UNIVERSITY  OF 

ILLINOIS  LIBRARY 

AT  URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 


ILONOIS  HISTORICAL  SURVEY 


-  •*  • 


'LI  E>  R.AR.Y 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 
Of    ILLINOIS 


ILLINOIS  HISTORICAL 


Ninety-Second 


Illinois  Volunteers. 


"  What  we  say  here  will  soon  be  forgotten ;  but  what  they  did 
here  will  ever  live  in  the  Nation's  memory." — Abraham  Lincoln, 
at  Gettysburg. 


FREEPORT,   ILLINOIS: 
JOURNAL  STEAM  PUBLISHING  HOUSE  AND  BOOKBINDERY. 

1875- 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress  in  the  year  1875,  by  the 

NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS  REUNION  ASSOCIATION, 
In  the  office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


-, 
' 


Preface. 


This  work  is  published  by  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Reunion 

^    Association,  under  the  supervision  of  a  Committee,  appointed  at 

the  third  Reunion,  at  Mt.  Carroll,  September  4,  1873.     Neither 

-  member  of  the  Committee  had  any  qualification  for  the  proper 
fO    performance  of  the  task   imposed   upon   them ;    neither   had   a 
Jp    scratch  of  a  pen  to  aid  in  the  compilation  of  the  work ;  neither 

_    had  time  at  his  disposal  to  devote  to  it.     The  material  facts  have 

i     been  gathered  from  the  diaries  and  old  letters  of  the  members  of 

^i     the  Regiment,  and  have  been  hastily  thrown  together  in  chrono- 

^     logical  order.     That  it  is  but  a  broken  fragment  of  an  imperfect 

•-    sketch  of  the  services  of   the   Regiment,   the    Committee   well 

5    know,  and  full  of  imperfections,  they  fear;  but  they  submit  it  to 

*  the  generous  consideration  of  their  comrades,  hoping  that  it  may 
j>    serve  to  revive,  in  the  memory  of  each  one  who  was  a  soldier  in 

the  Ninety-Second,  some  pleasant  remembrance. 

THE  COMMITTEE. 
Freeport,  Illinois,  January  15,  i$75- 


Contents. 


CHAPTER  I. 


What  was  It  All  About— The  Slavery  Question— The  Missouri  Compromise 
of  18-20— The  Fugitive  Slave  Law  of  1850— The  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill— 
The  Election  of  President  Buchanan,  in  1856— The  Debate  between 
Douglas  and  Lincoln,  in  Illinois,  in  1 858— The  Election  of  President 
Lincoln,  in  istio— The  Deliberate  Secession  Preparations  by  the  South  — 
President  Lincoln's  Inaugural  Address— The  Progress  of  the  Contest 
until  July  1, 1862— The  Call  for  Three  Hundred  Thousand  Additional 
Volunteers— How  It  Happened  that  the  Ninety-Second  Went  to  the 
War 9 

CHAPTER  II. 

Kecruiting — Regimental  Organization— The  First  Dress  Parade— Camp 
Life  at  Rockford— Regimental  Drill  in  Presence  of  the  Ladies— The 
First  March— The  First  Man  Wounded— Camp  at  Covington,  Ky. — 
Orders  to  March— Company  A  Buys  Mutton  for  the  Hospital— Camping 
in  a  Snow-Storm—  Lexington— Mt.  Sterling— The  Difficulties  on  the 
Negro  Question — Kentucky  Methodists— Marching  Away  from  Mt. 
Sterling— Winchester— Suits  Against  the  Colonel  for  Stealing  Negroes 
—Lexington— Nicholasville— Marching  After  John  Morgan— A  Slave 
Auction— Taking  the  Oath  of  Allegiance— Off  for  Louisville— Embarking 
on  Steamers—'  Good-Bye,  Loyal  Kentucky." 25 

CHAPTER  III. 

Down  the  Ohio— Up  the  Cumberland— Fort  Donelsou— Nashville— Reso- 
lutions—March  to  Franklin— Offering  Battle  to  Van  Dorn— Brentwood 
—Back  to  Franklin— The  New  Chaplain— March  to  Triune— Forrest's 
Attack  on  Triune— Shelbyville — The  Colonel's  Application  to  be  De- 
tached from  the  Reserve  Corps— Wartrace— The  Regiment  Mounted, 
and  Assigned  to  Wilder's  Brigade  of  Mounted  Infantry — Camping  at 
Decherd 67 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  Campaign  Against  Chattanooga— Over  the  Cumberland  Mountains- 
Artillery  Practice  at  Harrison's  Landing -First  Scout  on  Lookout 
Mountain— Leading  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  into  Chattanooga— 


NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  7 

Catawba  Wine— Fighting  Forrest  at  Ringgold,  Georgia— Rebel  Spies 
Pretending  to  be  Deserters — Gordon's  Mill— Marching  Down  Lookout 
Mountain  in  the  Storm  and  Darkness— Scouting  Along  the  Chattanooga 
Before  the  Battle— The  Battle  of  Chicamauga— How  McCook's  Corps 
Was  Surprised  and  Routed— Back  to  Harrison's  Landing— A  Dying 
Woman— Back  Again  Over  the  Cumberland  Mountains— Caperton's 
Ferry— Off  for  Huntsville— Judge  Hammond's  Plantation— The  Cold 
New  Year's  Night,  1864— Pulaski,  Tenn.— Back  to  Huntsville— Skirmish 
at  Bainbridge  Ferry— Fight  at  Sweetwater— Triauna—  Scouting  Along 
the  Tennessee— Detached  from  "Wilder's  Brigade 9£ 

CHAPTER  V. 

From  Huntsville  to  Ringgold— Beautiful  Camp  at  Ringgold— The  Massacre 
at  Nickojack— Reconnoissances  Under  Kilpatrick— Nickojack  Avenged 
—Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets  and  Major  Bonn  Complimented  in  Reso- 
lutions—General Movement  of  Sherman's  Army  Against  Jo  Johnston— 
Kilpatrick  Wounded— Reseca— Guarding  the  Railroad— Kilpatrick  Re- 
turns—Outpost Duty  on  the  Chattahoochee— Dave  Boyle's  Capture  and 
Escape— Band  Horses  Gobbled— Laying  Pontoons  at  Sandtown— Cut- 
ting Railroad  at  West  Point— Raiding  Around  the  Rebel  Army  at 
Atlanta— Night  Fighting  at  Jonesboro— Kilpatrick,  Surrounded,  Cuts 
His  Way  Out— Swimming  the  Cotton  River— Saving  the  Bridge  Across 
Flint  River— Brilliant  Diversion  on  the  Right  of  the  Army  of  the 
Tennessee— Glass's  Bridge— Fall  of  Atlanta— The  Summer's  Campaign 
Ended /^^? 

CHAPTER  VI. 

No  Rest— Off  Again  After  Hood— Powder  Springs— Drawing  the  Enemy's 
Fire— Picking  Out  a  Farm— Van  Wert— Washing  for  Gold  in  the  Gold 
Mines— Marietta— Getting  Ready  for  the  Great  March— The  Start— Bear 
Creek— Pontoons  Described— Feinting  on  Forsyth  and  Macon— Crews's 
Rebel  Brigade  Scattered — Repulsing  the  Enemy  Near  Macon — Sher- 
man's Bummers — Milledgeville— "  Blowed  Up" — Holding  the  Rear 
Against  Wheeler  and  Hampton— Repulsing  the  Rebel  Cavalry  Near 
Buckhead  Creek— Resting  at  Louisville,  Georgia— Destroying  Railroads 
-The  Battle  of  Waynesboro— Capturing  a  Rebel  Major— A  Negro 
Boy's  Grave — Covering  the  Rear  of  the  14th  A.  C.— Our  Friends  Cruelly 
Left  Behind— Covering  the  Rear  of  the  17th  A.  C.— Fall  of  Fort  McAl- 
lister—Midway Church— Down  to  the  Ocean's  Edge— Lockridge's 
Capture  and  Escape— Fall  of  Savannah— Sherman's  Letter  to 
Kilpatrick.— /<?.5. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Camping  and  Foraging  About  Savannah— Starting  on  the  March  Again— 
.  Torchlight  Battle— Into  South  Carolina— Barn  well— The  Rebel  Trap 
at  Aiken— The  Ninety-Second,  Completely  Surrounded  by  the  Enemy, 
Gallantly  Cuts  Its  Way  Out — Exchanging  Prisoners  with  Wheeler- 
Sending  Up  Sky-Rockets—Running  Into  the  Rebel  Camps  at  Night— 
Averysboro— Bentonsville— News  of  Lee's  Surrender— Fighting  Near 


8  NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

Raleigh— Entering  Raleigh— Chapel  Hill— Marching  Along,  Gray-Coat 
and  Blue-Coat,  Together— Concord — Mustered  Out— Homeward-Bound 
—The  Three.Years'  Soldiering  Ended 307 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Roster  of  Field  and  Staff— Roster  of  Each  Company  of  the  Regiment- -Ros- 
ter of  Unassigned  Recruits 254. 

+      CHAPTER  IX. 

Statement  of  Charles  W.  Reynolds,  who  was  Taken  Prisoner  at  Nickoj; 
—Statement  of  Nathan  C.  Tyler— Statement  of  Don  B.  Frazer—  Carry 
ing  a  Dispatch— Chat  with  a  Southern  Lady— Foraging  in  South  Caro- 
lina—Venison Steak,  and  How  the  Boys  Got  It— Captain  Smith's  New 
Boots— Serenading  a  Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum 3O6 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Reunion  at  Polo,  September  4th,  1867— General  Atkins's  Address— A 
Reunion  Association  Organized— The  Reunion  at  Freeport,  Septeml 
4th,  1870— General  Sheets's  Address— The  Reunion  at  Mt.  Carroll,  Sep 
tember  4th,  1873— Major  Woodcock's  Address 3S& 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

WHAT  IT  WAS  ALL  ABOUT. — THE  SLAVERY  QUESTION. —  THE 
MISSOURI  COMPROMISE  OF  1820. — THE  FUGITIVE  SLAVE  LAW 
OF  1850. — THE  KANSAS-NEBRASKA  BILL. — THE  ELECTION  OF 
PRESIDENT  BUCHANAN  IN  1856. — THE  DRED  SCOTT  CASE. — 
THE  DEBATE  BETWEEN  DOUGLAS  AND  LINCOLN  IN  ILLI- 
NOIS IN  1858. — THE  ELECTION  OK  PRESIDENT  LINCOLN  IN 
1860. — THE  DELIBERATE  SECESSION  PREPARATIONS  BY  THE 
SOUTH. — PRESIDENT  LINCOLN'S  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS. — THE 
PROGRESS  OF  THE  CONTEST  UNTIL  JULY  i,  1862. — THE  CALL 
FOR  THREE  HUNDRED  THOUSAND  ADDITIONAL  VOLUNTEERS. 
HOW  IT  HAPPENED  THAT  THE  NlNETY-SKCOND  WENT  TO 

THE    WAR. 

What  was  it  all  about?     How  did  it  happen  that  the   Ninety- 
Second  Regiment  went  to  the  war?      These  are  questions  for  a 
reply  to  which  the  old  members  of  the  Ninety-Second  will  have- 
no   need  to  look  into  a  book;  they   will  find  the  ready   answers 
engraven  upon  the  tablets  of  their  memories  in  characters  that 
can  never  fade.     But  their  children  will  be  asking  these  questions, 
nd  we  may   ;is  well  answer   them  now.     What  was  it  all   about? 
ut  that  question  reaches  so  far  back  into  the  past  that  we  cannot 
'.  the  whole  story.     It  was  about  the  rights  of  man,  and  they 
n   when    Adam  was  created.     If  you  throw  a  stone  into  a 
a  little  circular  wave  will  be  caused  upon  the  surface  of  the' 
:er,  and  the  circle  will  grow  larger,  and  inside  of  it  will  come 
ther  circle,  and  yet  another,  and  another ;  and  by  and  by  one 
e  of  the  circles  will  break  upon  the  shore  at  your  feet,  and  the 
Jier  side  of  the  circles  will  cross  the  pond   and  break  upon  the 
farther  shore.     And  so  it  is  with  the  great  events  in  history,  only 
there  are  no  shores  for  the  circles  of  influence   to  break  upon; 
they  go  back,  by  relation,  many   hundreds  of  years  in   the  past, 

2  (9) 


io  NINBTT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

and  no  man  can  tell  how  far  the  widening  circles  of  influence  of 
the  great  deeds  of  any  age  may  reach  into  the  coming  centuries. 
We  said  it  was  about  the  rights  of  man.  We  will  be  more  specific. 
It  was  about  the  rights  of  the  black  man ;  for,  we  think  it  safe  to 
say  now,  whatever  was  said  at  the  time,  that  African  slavery  was 
the  real  cause  of  the  war.  That  is  what  it  was  all  about.  When 
the  American  Colonies  were  settled  African  slaves  were  intro- 
duced into  the  Colonies;  the  first  were  landed  at  Jamestown,  in 
Virginia,  by  a  Dutch  trading  vessel,  in  the  year  A.  D.  1620. 
They  were  afterwards  introduced  into  other  Colonies,  and  before 
the  American  Revolution  African  slavery  existed  in  most  of  the 
North  American  Colonies.  During  the  Revolution  the  American 
slaves  aided  the  American  patriots  in  many  ways.  Many  people 
believed  that  the  Declaration  of  American  Independence,  upon 
which  the  American  Revolution  was  fought,  when  it  said  "all 
men  are  created  equal,"  meant  ALL  men,  black  as  well  as  white ; 
but  many  also  believed  that  it  did  not  apply  to  slaves,  or  Indians, 
or  to  any  but  white  men.  And  when  the  American  Revolution 
was  ended,  and  liberty  had  been  gained,  it  was  construed  not  to 
mean  liberty  to  black  men,  but  to  white  men  only.  The  Southern 
Colonies  did  not  wish  to  give  up  slavery,  yet  there  appeared  at 
that  titnejx)  be  a  general  sentiment  among  the  people  at  the 
North  and  South  that  slavery  was  wrong,  and  detrimental  to  the 
best  interests  of  the  newly  developing  communities;  and  when 
Virginia,  in  the  year  1787,  ceded  to  the  General  Government  her 
title  to  the  Territory  out  of  which  the  States  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  Michigan  have  since  been  formed,  on 
July  13,  1787,  in  the  last  Congress  that  convened  under  the 
Articles  of  Confederation,  the  Northwest  Ordinance  was  passed  for 
the  government  of  all  the  Territory  at  that  time  owned  by  the 
infant  Republic.  And  by  Article  VI  of  that  Ordinance  it  was 
provided :  "That  there  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary 
servitude  in  the  said  Territory  otherwise  than  in  the  punishment 
of  crimes,  whereof  the  party  shall  have  been  duly  convicted." 
That  was  the  way  our  revolutionary  fathers  provided  for  the 
government  of  the  Territory  belonging  to  the  Union  in  the  first 
legislative  act  they  passed  upon  the  subject. 

But  the   invention    of  the    Cotton  Gin,  a  machine  to  separatt 
the  cotton  seed  fiom  the  cotton  fibre,    invented  bv  Eli  Whitnr 
in  1792,  and  afterwards  brought  into  general  use,  made  the  cu 
vation  of  cotton  in  the  South,  bv  slave  labor,  profitable :  and  a 
the  cultivation  of  rice  and  sugar   cane,  by  slave  labor,  beconr 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  it 

profitable  at  the  South,  there  was  built  up  thereby  in  the 
Southern  Colonies  a  sentiment  strongly  favoring  slavery.  There 
were  no  such  reasons  for  continuing  slavery  in  the  Northern 
Colonies,  and  it  was  abolished  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania, 
and  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  refused  to  permit  slavery 
when  its  State  government  was  established.  And  in  a  few  years 
after  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution,  in  1789,  there  were 
but  few  slaves  in  the  Northern  States,  and  very  few  colored 
people.  When  the  Federal  Constitution  was  adopted,  slavery 
was  indirectly  recognized  in  that  fundamental  law  of  the  new 
Nation,  by  its  providing,  in  Section  IX  of  Article  I,  that  "the 
migration  or  importation  of  such  persons  as  any  of  the  States 
now  existing  shall  think  proper  to  admit,  shall  not  be  prohibited 
by  Congress,  prior  to  the  year  1808."  This  was  well  known  to 
refer  to  the  African  slave  trade,  and  it  was  a  concession  to  the 
extreme  Southern  States.  It  did  not  apply  to  the  Territories  out 
of  which  new  States  might  be  carved,  and  afterwards  admitted 
into  the  Union,  but  only  to  the  States  at  that  time  existing.  But 
in  the  early  days  of  the  Republic  the  best  and  most  enlightened 
sentiment  of  the  nation,  North  and  South,  tended  toward  the 
broadest  liberty,  and  the  American  Congress,  soon  after  the 
constitutional  prohibition  expired,  prohibited  the  African  slave 
trade,  by  declaring  it  piracy  upon  the  high  seas.  For  many  years 
afterward,  in  the  South,  slavery  continued  to  grow  more  and  more 
profitable;  in  the  North  it  died  out  entirely,  and  a  strong  senti- 
ment inimical  to  slavery  rapidly  grew  up.  In  1820,  when 
Missouri  was  erected  into  a  State,  with  slavery,  it  created  great 
excitement  and  profound  discussion  in  Congress  and  throughout 
the  Nation ;  but  slavery  already  existed  in  Missouri  by  a  clause 
in  the  treaty  ceding  the  Louisiana  Territory,  out  of  which  the 
State  of  Missouri  was  formed,  to  the  United  States,  and  at  the 
instance  of  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  United  States  Senator  from  Illinois, 
slavery  was  allowed  in  that  State,  but  prohibited  in  all  the  Western 
Territorial  possessions  of  the  United  States  in  the  future,  North  of 
36°  30',  that  being  the  Southern  line  of  the  State  of  Missouri. 
That  is  known  in  history  as  the  Clay  Compromise,  or  Missouri 
Compromise  of  1820.  Some  statesmen  thought  that  it  was  the 
final  settlement  of  all  difficulty  on  the  slavery  question;  but 
compromises  seldom  settle  anything,  and  the  Missouri  Compromise 
of  1820  did  not  settle  the  slavery  question;  it  only  postponed  the 
day  of  settlement.  The  people  of  the  South  did  not  any  the  less 
desire  to  extend  the  area  of  slavery :  the  people  of  the  North  did 


12  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

not  look  with  any  less  aversion  upon  the  institution  of  slavery 
itself.  The  South  saw  the  North  prosperous,  rapidly  advancing 
in  wealth  and  population,  and  new  States  preparing  for  admission 
into  the  Union,  in  which  slavery  would  not  be  permitted.  And 
the  South  saw  its  own  section  languishing  in -enterprise,  and  no 
new  States  continually  coming  into  the  Union  at  the  South,  to 
enable  that  section  to  hold  the  same  relative  political  power  in  the 
Union ;  and  political  power  was  passing  rapidlv  into  the  possession 
of  the  more  populous,  more  enterprising  free  States  of  the  North. 
Slaves  escaping  from  the  plantations  in  the  South  were  aided  by 
Northern  citizens,  fed  and  clothed,  and  secretlv  and  illegally 
forwarded  on  their  journey  to  freedom,  in  Canada.  Free  men  of 
color  from  the  North  were  reduced  to  slavery  in  some  portions  of 
the  South.  Freedom  of  speech  was  denied  in  a  great  portion  of 
the  South,  and  any  one  who  there  asserted  that  slavery  was 
wrong  was  at  the  mercv  of  the  mob,  and  always  of  a  mob  that 
had  no  mercy.  Slaveholding  was  denounced  in  the  North  in  a 
portion  of  the  public  press,  and  from  the  pulpit  and  the  stump. 
In  1850  there  was  great  excitement  again  in  Congress;  the  ghost 
of  slavery,  although  compromised  out  of  sight  in  1820,  would 
not  stay  down.  The  South  demanded,  with  bitterness  and  threats 
of  war  and  disunion,  additional  safe-guards  against  the  escape  of 
their  slaves;  and  the  North,  or  many  people  at  the  North,  did 
not  like  to  become  slave-hunters  for  Southern  slave  masters. 
But  the  South,  being  united,  succeeded  in  dividing  the  North,  and 
carrying  with  its  section  a  portion  of  the  Democratic  party  of  the 
North,  passed  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  of  1850,  so  harsh  in  its 
terms  as  to  meet  the  bitter  denunciation  of  many  of  the  wisest 
and  best  men  at  the  North  Many  men  refused  to  obey  the  law, 
and  were  sustained  in  such  refusal  by  the  Supreme  Courts  of 
manv  of  the  Northern  States.  In  1854  Kansas  and  Nebraska 
were  organized  into  Territories,  and  the  bill  for  that  purpose, 
introduced  into  the  Senate  by  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  Senator  from 
Illinois,  in  express  terms  trampled  down  the  compromise  adopted 
at  the  instance  of  Jesse  B.  Thomas,  Senator  from  Illinois,  in  1820. 
The  excitement  was  intense,  and  the  slavery  question  was  almost 
the  only  question  publicly  discussed  in  the  press  and  on  the 
stump,  both  at  the  North  and  South.  The  South  was  united  and 
the  North  divided.  Most  of  the  Democratic  party  at  the  North, 
following  the  lead  of  Senator  Douglas,  joined  with  the  united 
South,  and  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  was  passed,  on  July  13,  1854, 
providing  that  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  notwithstanding  the  Com- 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  13 

promise  of  1820,  dedicating  that  Territory  to  freedom,  might  come 
into  the  Union  as  States,  "with  or  without  slavery,"  as  the  people 
might  determine  at  the  time  of  their  admission  into  the  Union. 
Then  came  a  race  as  to  who  should  settle  up  those  Territories, 
Southern  people  favoring  slavery,  or  Northern  people  favoring 
freedom.  The  Southern  planter  went  with  his  slaves,  his  prejudice 
against  education,  his  pistol  and  his  bowieknife.  The  Northern 
people  sent  out  colonies  of  settlers  with  bibles  and  Sharpe's  rifles, 
and  the  Northern  settlers  in  Kansas  built  school  houses  and 
churches,  and  roads,  and  mills;  read  their  bibles  as  their  Pilgrim 
Fathers  had  done  before  them,  and  defended  their  settlements 
with  their  rifles.  They  were  raided  upon  and  marty  times 
temporarily  overpowered  by  the  bands  of  slaveholders  from 
Missouri  and  Arkansas,  but  the  Northern  settlers  in  Kansas  went 
to  stay,  and  they  did  stay.  In  the  long  run  intelligence  and  free 
labor  always  triumph  over  prejudice  and  slavery.  They  triumphed 
in  Kansas  and  Nebraska. 

But,  while  the  contest  was  being  fought  out  in  Kansas  and 
Nebraska — Yankee  intelligence  and  freedom  against  Southern 
prejudice  and  slavery — many  other  interesting  phases  of  the  con- 
test were  developing.  One  of  the  most  interesting,  and  one  that 
ultimately  assumed  the  most  prominent  part  in  the  solution  of 
the  slavery  question  in  the  United  States,  was  a  law  case  that 
arose  in  the  State  of  Missouri ;  an  action  of  trespass  vi  ft  armis, 
by  Dred  Scott,  a  negro,  against  one  Sanford,  who  claimed  to  be 
his  master,  to  try  the  question  of  Dred  Scott's  freedom,  and  the 
freedom  of  his  wife  and  children ;  which  case  found  its  way  into 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  The  facts  in  the  case 
were  as  follows:  Dred  Scolt,  the  negro,  was  taken  by  his  master, 
voluntarily  on  the  part  of  his  master,  in  the  year  1834,  to  Rock 
Island,  in  the  free  State  of  Illinois,  and  for  two  years  held  in 
Rock  Island  as  a  slave,  forty-seven  years  after  the  adoption  of 
the  North- West  Ordinance  of  1787,  which  threw  its  protecting 
shield  of  freedom  over  all  the  Territory  from  which  the  State  of 
Illinois  was  formed,  and  sixteen  years  after  the  Free  State  Con- 
stitution of  Illinois  was  adopted.  The  negro  was  then  taken  by  his 
master  to  the  military  post  of  Ft.  Snelling,  in  Minnesota,  and 
there  held  as  a  slave  two  years  longer.  During  the  time  he  was 
held  as  a  slave  in  Minnesota,  Dred  Scott  was  married,  and  had 
two  children  born  unto  him.  The  case  was  argued  in  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,  at  December  Term,  A.  D. 
1855;  but  it  was  not  decided  at  that  term.  The  Presidential  cam- 


I4  NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

palgn  of  1856  was  approaching.  The  Democrats  nominated 
James  Buchanan,  of  Pennsylvania,  for  President;  the  Republi- 
cans nominated  John  Charles  Fremont,  who  was  the  first 
Republican  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  The  canvass  was 
exceedingly  earnest,  and  the  points  upon  which  it  turned  were 
the  extension  of  slavery  and  the  breaking  down  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise  of  1820.  The  supporters  of  Fremont  were  called 
"  black  Republicans,"  and  "  negro  worshippers,"  and  great  preju- 
dice seemed  to  exist  against  them.  They  were  not  successful  in 
that  Presidential  campaign,  and  James  Buchanan,  the  Democratic 
candidate,  was  elected  President  of  the  United  States.  The 
Senate  a*hd  Lower  House  of  Congress  were  overwhelmingly 
Democratic.  The  South  had  apparently  triumphed ;  they  controlled 
two  of  the  three  important  branches  of  the  Government  under 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States — the  Executive  and  the 
Legislative — and  they  were  sure  of  the  other  branch — the  Judicial. 
Surely,  if  now,  having  the  Executive  and  Legislative  branches 
of  the  Government  with  them,  they  could  "  clinch"  the  repeal  of 
the  Missouri  Compromise  with  a  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  then  abolition  hate,  and  Yankee  ingenuity 
and  pluck,  could  not  prevail  against  them.  The  decision  came 
immediately  after  the  election.  The  Dred  Scott  case  was 
decided  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  at  the  De- 
cember Term,  1856.  In  that  case,  it  was  decided  to  be  the  law  of 
the  land,  so  far  as  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  could 
decide  it  to  be  law:  First,  that  negroes  had  no  rights'  which 
white  men  were  bound  to  respect,  and  consequently  that  no 
person  who  had  African  blood  in  his  veins  could  be  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States,  even  to  the  extent  of  being  able  to  sue  in  its 
courts  for  his  liberty  or  the  liberty  of  his  child.  Second,  that  the 
right  of  property  in  human  beings  was  distinctly  affirmed  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States.  Third,  that  slavery  could  not 
be  prohibited  in  the  Territories  by  any  authority  whatever,  or  any- 
where else  where  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was  the 
paramount  law.  Fourth,  that  Dred  Scott  was  lawfully  held  as  a 
slave,  both  at  Rock  Island,  in  the  free  State  of  Illinois,  and  at  Ft. 
Snelling,  in  Minnesota,  and  that  it  would  have  made  no  differ- 
ence had  he  been  taken  there  with  the  intention  of  a  permanent 
residence. 

It  was  supposed  by  many  that  this  decision,  by  the  most 
august  judicial  tribunal  in  the  world,  would  settle  the  slavery 
question  forever.  The  fact  was  that  it  unsettled  it  more  than  the 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  15 

passage  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  in  1850,  or  the  repeal  of  the 
Missouri  Compromise  in  1854.  The  court  went  too  far.  It  was 
easy  to  be  seen  that,  if  that  decision  was  to  be  followed  out  to  its 
logical  extent,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  freedom  anywhere  in 
the  United  States  for  the  black  man;  not  in  the  Territories,  nor 
yet  in  the  States,  for  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
recognized  as  the  paramount  law  in  all  the  States  and  Territories. 
The  Northern  people,  the  anti-slavery  people  of  the  United  States, 
denied  the  binding  authority  of  that  decision.  They  pronounced 
it  monstrous,  but  they  never  dreamed  of  going  into  a  rebellion 
over  it.  In  the  press,  and  in  the  pulpit,  and  on  the  stump,  it  was 
'denounced.  Greater  political  excitement  prevailed  than  was  ever 
known  before.  More  colonies  of  settlers,  and  more  bibles,  and 
more  rifles  were  sent  by  Massachusetts  to  Kansas.  In  1858,  in 
Illinois,  the  most  remarkable  political  debate  that  had  ever 
occurred  in  the  history  of  the  United  States  took  place.  Senator 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  the  author  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Bill, 
which  repealed  the  Missouri  Compromise  of  1820,  and  Abraham 
Lincoln,  Esq.,  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  met  in  joint  public  debate, 
and  the  turning  points  of  the  whole  series  of  debates  were  the 
questions  of  the  extension  of  slavery,  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  and  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  in  the  Dred  Scott  case.  Senator  Douglas,  as  the 
champion  of  the  Democratic  party,  affirmed  the  wisdom  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise,  and  the  binding  force  of  the 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  Dred 
Scott  case;  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  as  the  champion  of  the  Republican 
party,  deplored  both,  and  contended  for  a  return  to  the  tendencies 
in  favor  of  freedom,  which  prevailed  in  the  infancy  of  the 
Republic.  It  was  the  contest  of  intellectual  giants.  But  Illinois 
went  Democratic,  and  Senator  Douglas  and  the  Democratic  party 
had  the  immediate  victory.  So  confident  was  the  South,  in 
complete  victory,  with  every  department  of  the  Government 
sustaining  slavery,  that  the  African  slave  trade  was  actually 
revived,  and  a  ship  load  of  African  slaves  imported  into  Georgia, 
by  G.  B.  Lamar,  of  Savannah. 

In  1860  came  on  another  Presidential  campaign.  Four  candi- 
dates for  the  Presidency  and  Vice-Presidency  of  the  United  States 
were  presented  for  the  suffrages  of  the  people.  The  contest  was 
one  of  the  most  exciting  that  had  ever  occurred.  The  Demo- 
cratic party  was  divided;  one  wing  of  that  party  supported 
Stephen  A.  Douglas,  of  Illinois,  for  President,  and  Herschel  V. 


16  NINETr-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

Johnson,  of  Georgia,  for  Vice-President;  the  other  wing  of  the 
Democratic  party  supported  John  C.  Breckenridge,  of  Kentucky, 
for  President,  and  Joseph  Lane,  of  Oregon,  for  Vice-President. 
The  old-line  Whigs  supported  John  Bell,  of  Tennessee,  for  Presi- 
dent, and  Edward  Everett,  of  Massachusetts,  for  Vice-President. 
The  Republican  party  supported  Abraham  Lincoln,  of  Illinois, 
for  President,  and  Hanibal  Hamlin,  of  Maine,  for  Vice-President. 
Under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  the  vote  is  not 
direct  for  President  and  Vice-President;  but  in  each  State  the 
voters  vote  for  "Presidential  Electors,"  as  many  as  the  State  has 
Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress.  After  the  election, 
these  Presidential  Electors  form  an  Electoral  College,  and  a 
majority  of  votes  in  the  Electoral  College  elects  the  President 
and  Vice-President.  The  result  of  the  Presidential  election  in 
1860  was  that,  in  the  Electoral  College,  Lincoln  and  Hamlin  had 
one  hundred  and  eighty  electoral  votes;  Douglas  and  Johnson 
had  twelve  electoral  votes;  Breckenridge  and  Lane  had  seventy- 
two  electoral  votes;  Bell  and  Everett  had  thirty-nine  electoral 
votes;  that  is,  Lincoln  and  Hamlin  had  a  majority  of  fiftv-seven 
electoral  votes,  in  the  Electoral  College,  over  all  opposing  candi- 
dates. Curious  students  of  history  may  wish  to  -examine  the 
popular  vote,  which  was  as  follows:  Lincoln  and  Hamlin 
received  1,857,610;  Douglas  and  Johnson,  1,365,976;  Breckenridge 
and  Lane,  847,553;  Bell  and  Everett,  590,631.  The  election  of 
Lincoln  and  Hamlin  was  the  first  great  victory  of  the  Republican 
party,  and  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  of  the  Nation.  And  never 
was  there  a  fairer  election -held,  except  that  the  supporters  of 
Lincoln  and  Hamlin  were  mobbed  in  many,  if  not  all,  of  the 
Slave  States.  Had  the  Democrats  not  quarrelled,  and  voted 
solidly,  they  must  have,  succeeded.  It  seemed  that  the  Southern 
Democrats  deliberately  resolved  to  quarrel,  divide  the  Democratic 
vote,  and  thereby  help  to  elect  Lincoln  and  Hamlin,  and  for  no 
other  reason  than  that  they  might  organize  the  Rebellion;  and  in 
support  of  this  view  it  may  be  mentioned  that,  at  Charleston, 
South  Carolina,  the  hot-bed  of  secession,  on  November  7th,  1860, 
the  very  day  following  the  election  of  Lincoln  and  Hamlin,  the 
news  of  their  election  was  received  with  cheers  bv  the  Secession- 
ists of  that  rebel  city,  and  with  shouts  for  a  "Southern  Con- 
federacy;" and  on  the  ninth  of  November,  1860,  onlv  two  davs 
after  the  election  of  Lincoln  and  Hamlin,  the  citizens  of  Charles- 
ton, South  Carolina,  attempted  to  seixe  the  United  States  arms  in 
Fort  Moultrie,  one  of  the  United  States  forts  in  Charleston  Harbor. 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  17 

Indeed,  it  became  plain  that  the  original  Secessionists  at  the 
South  had  deliberately  planned  treason,  and  deliberately  de- 
termined to  put  into  execution  their  ot't-repeated  threats  of 
disunion.  Warlike  preparations  quickly  followed  each  other  in 
the  South.  On  the  tenth  of  November,  1860,  a  bill  was  intro- 
duced in  the  South  Carolina  Legislature,  to  raise  and  equip  ten 
thousand  men;  and  the  Legislature  of  that  State  ordered  the 
election  of  a  Convention,  to  consider  the  question  of  Secession, 
and  James  Chestnut,  one  of  the  United  States  Senators  from 
South  Carolina,  resigned ;  which  was  followed  on  the  eleventh 
bv  the  resignation  of  United  States  Senator  Hammond,  of  that 
State.,  On  the  fifteenth  of  November,  Governor  Letcher,  of  Vir- 
ginia, called  an  extra  session  of  the  Virginia  Legislature.  On 
the  eighteenth  of  November,  the  'Legislature  of  Georgia  appro- 
priated one  million  dollars  to  arm  that  State.  On  the  nineteenth, 
Governor  Moore,  of  Louisiana,  called  an  extra  session  of  the 
Legislature.  On  the  first  of  December,  a  great  Secession  meet- 
ing was  held  at  Memphis,  in  the  State  of  Tennessee ;  and  on  the 
same  day,  the  Legislature  of  Florida  ordered  the  election  of  a 
Secession  Convention.  On  the  third  day  of  December,  the 
United  States  Congress  assembled;  and  President  James 
Buchanan,  a  Northern  dough-faced  Democrat,  who  sympathized 
with  treason,  denied,  in  his  message  to  Congress,  the  right  of 
the  United  States  to  coerce  a  seceding  State.  On  the  fifth  of 
December,  the  delegates  to  the  Secession  Convention  in  South 
Carolina  were  elected.  On  the  tenth,  Howell  Cobb,  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  of  the  United  States,  resigned,  and  went  home  to 
Georgia,  to  engage  in  Secession;  and  on  the  same  day,  the  Leg- 
islature of  Louisiana  assembled,  and  appropriated  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  to  arm  that  State,  and  called  a  Secession  Con- 
vention. On  the  thirteenth  of  December,  a  special  meeting  of 
President  Buchanan's  Cabinet  was  held,  to  consider  the  question 
of  reinforcing  Fort  Moultrie;  and  President  Buchanan  opposed 
it,  and  no  reinforcements  were  sent.  On  the  seventeenth,  the 
Secession  Convention  of  South  Carolina  assembled,  and  on  the 
twentieth,  passed  the  Ordinance  of  Secession  by  a  unanimous 
vote;  and  President  Buchanan  sent  a  message  to  the  South 
Carolina  Secession  Convention,  pledging  'hat  Fort  Moultrie 
should  not  be  reinforced.  On  the  twenty-sixth,  Major  Anderson. 
with  one  hundred  and  eleven  men,  evacuated  Fort  Moultrie,  and 
took  possession  of  Fort  Sumter,  in  Charleston  Harbor.  On  the 
twenty-seventh,  the  Revenue  Cutter,  William  Aiken,  was  treach- 


i8  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

erously  surrendered  to  the  South  Carolina  authorities  by  Captain 
M.  S.  Coste;  and  on  the  twenty-eighth,  South  Carolina  seized 
the  United  States  property  in  the  city  of  Charleston,  and  took 
possession  of  Castle  Pinckney  and  Fort  Moultrie;  and  on  the 
thirty-first  of  December,  South  Carolina  sent  Commissioners  to 
other  Slave  States,  to  stir  up  Secession.  So  the  year  1860  went 
out.  And  the  North  stood  still  and  quiet;  amazed,  but  not 
frightened. 

And  the  new  year,  1861,  came  in  with  the  same  methodical 
preparations  for  war,  on  the  part  of  the  South.  On  the  second 
day  of  January,  Governor  Ellis,  of  North  Carolina,  seized  Fort 
Macon;  and  on  the  same  day,  the  Secession  militia  of  Georgia 
seized  Fort  Pulaski,  and  Fort  Jackson,  and  the  United  States 
Arsenal  at  Savannah,  Georgia.  On  the  fourth  of  January, 
Governor  Moore,  of  Alabama,  seized  Fort  Morgan  and  the 
United  States  Arsenal  at  Mobile  And  the  people  of  the  North 
observed  that  day  as  a  day  of  fasting  and  prayer.  On  the  sev- 
enth, the  Secession  Conventions  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi 
convened,  and  the  Legislatures  of  Virginia  and  Tennessee 
assembled.  On  the  eighth,  Jacob  Thompson,  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  resigned  and  joined  the  Rebellion ;  and  on  the  same 
day,  the  Secessionists  of  North  Carolina  seized  Fort  Johnson,  at 
Wilmington,  and  Fort  Caswell,  at  Oak  Island.  On  the  ninth  of 
January,  the  steamer,  Star  of  the  West,  bearing'provisions  to  the 
United  States  garrison  in  Fort  Sumter,  was  fired  upon  by  the 
Rebel  batteries  in  Charleston  Harbor,  and  the  steamer  turnec' 
back ;  and  on  the  same  day,  Mississippi  passed  the  Secession 
Ordinance.  On  the  tenth,  the  Florida  militia  seized  Fort 
McRea,  and  Florida  passed  an  Ordinance  of  Secession.  On  the 
eleventh,  Alabama  seceded ;  and  on  the  same  day,  the  Governor 
of  Louisiana  seized  Fort  St.  Phillip  and  Fort  Jackson,  on  the 
Mississippi  below  New  Orleans,  and  Fort  Pike  and  Fort  Macornb, 
on  Lake  Ponchartrain,  and  the  United  States  Arsenal  at  Baton 
Rouge.  On  the  thirteenth,  the  Secessionists  of  Florida  took 
possession  of  the  Pensacola  Navy  Yard  and  Fort  Barnacas.  On 
the  sixteenth,  Arkansas  and  Missouri  called  Secession  Conven- 
tions. On  the  eighteenth,  Virginia  voted  one  million  dollars  for 
the  Rebellion.  On  the  nineteenth,  Georgia  adopted  a  Secession 
Ordinance.  On  the  twenty-first,  Jefferson  Davis,  Senator  from 
Mississippi,  resigned  his  seat  in  the  United  States  Senate,  and 
joined  the  Conspirators;  and  all  the  Members  of  Congress  from 
Al-abama  resigned  and  went  home  to  engage  in  Secession,  followed 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  19 

on  the  next  day  by  all  the  Members  of  Congress  from  Georgia ;  and 
on  the  following  day,  the  Georgia  militia  seized  the  United  States 
Arsenal  at  Augusta.  On  the  twenty-sixth,  Louisiana  passed  a 
Secession  Ordinance.  On  the  thirtieth,  the  United  States 
Revenue  Cutters,  Cass  at  Mobile,  and  McLelland  at  New 
Orleans,  were  traitorously  surrendered  to  the  Rebel  insurgents  by 
their  contemptible  Commanders.  This  is  the  record  of  Secession 
preparation  in  the  month  of  January,  1861,  and  it  is  by  no  means 
complete;  we  have  aimed  only  to  give  the  most  prominent 
events.  The  month  of  February  was  as  fruitful  of  Secession. 
On  the  first  of  February,  the  State  of  Texas  seceded,  and  the 
Louisiana  ^Secessionists  seized  the  United  States  Mint  and 
Custom  House  at  New  Orleans.  On  the  fourth,  the  delegates 
from  the  Southern  States  met  at  Montgomery,  Alabama,  to 
organize  the  "Confederate  States  of  America."  On  the  eighth, 
the  United  States  Arsenal  at  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  was  seized. 
On  the  ninth,  Jefferson  Davis,  of  Mississippi,  and  Alexander  H. 
Stephens,  of  Georgia,  were  declared  the  Provisional  President 
and  Vice-President  of  the  so-called  Southern  Confederacy.  And 
on  the  twenty-third,  General  Twiggs,  a  traitorous  West  Point 
bantling  of  the  Republic,  surrendered  and  turned  traitor  in 
Texas,  taking  with'  him  over  one  million  two  hundred  thousand 
dollars'  worth  of  property  of  the  United  States. 

And  now  we  turn  to  the  North.  What  was  the  North  doing 
all  this  time,  in  the  face  of  all  this  warlike  preparation  and  con- 
certed treason,  on  the  part  of  the  South?  The  truthful  answer  is, 
nothing,  absolutely  nothing.  President  James  Buchanan  did 
nothing;  and  the  Northern  people  waited  for  the  inauguration  of 
Abraham  Lincoln,  as  President  of  the  United  States.  The 
Northern  people  were  exceedingly  quiet;  but  they  were  very 
solemnly  in  earnest,  in  their  determination  to  maintain  the  integ- 
rity of  the  United  States  Government.  When  Abraham  Lincoln 
left  his  home  in  Springfield,  Illinois,  to  go  to  Washington,  to  be 
inaugurated  as  President,  on  taking  leave  of  his  fellow  citizens  at 
the  depot,  he  said :  "  My  friends,  no  one  not  in  my  position  can 
appreciate  the  sadness  I  feel  at  this  parting.  I  know  not  how 
soon  I  shall  see  you  again.  A  duty  devolves  upon  me  which  is, 
perhaps,  greater  than  that  which  has  devolved  upon  any  other  man 
since  the  days  of  Washington.  He  never  would  have  succeeded 
except  for  the  aid  of  Divine  Providence,  upon  which  he  at  all 
times  relied.  I  feel  that  I  cannot  succeed  without  the  same 
Divine  aid  which  sustained  him.  In  the  same  Almighty  Being 


20  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

I  place  my  reliance  for  support;  and  I  hope  that  my  friends  will 
.ill  pray  that  i  may  receive  that  Divine  assistance,  without  which 
I  cannot  succeed,  but  with  which  success  is  certain.  Again  I  bid 
vou  all  an  affectionate  farewell."  On  his  journev  to  Washington, 
the  Secessionists  attempted  his  assassination.  At  one  time  an 
attempt  was  made  to  throw  the  railroad  train  off  from  the  track. 
At  Cincinnati  a  hand-grenade  was  found  concealed  on  the  train. 
A  gang  in  Baltimore  had  arranged,  upon  his  arrival,  to  "  get  up 
a  row,"  and,  in  the  confusion,  to  make  sure  of  his  death  with 
revolvers  and  hand-grenades.  The  plot  was  discovered  by  a 
detective;  and  a  secret,  special  train  was  provided  to  take  him 
from  Harrisburg,  through  Baltimore,  at  an  unexpected  hour  of 
the  night.  The  train  started  at  half-past  ten  from  Harrisburg; 
and  as  soon  as  the  train  had  started,  the  telegraph  wire  was  cut. 
His  safe  arrival  in  Washington,  the  next  morning,  was  tele- 
graphed over  the  North.  Abraham  Lincoln  was  inaugurated  as 
President  of  the  Unied  States,  on  the  steps  of  the  Capitol,  March 
fourth,  1861,  General  Winfield  Scott  having  charge  of  the  military 
escort.  General  Scott,  in  his  autobiography,  says:  "The 
inauguration  of  President  Lincoln  was,  perhaps,  the  most  critical 
and  hazardous  with  which  I  have  ever  been  connected.  In  the 
preceding  two  months  I  had  received  more  than  fifty  letters, 
many  from  points  distant  from  each  other;  some  earnestly  dis- 
suading me  from  being  present  at  the  event,  and  others  distinctly 
threatening  assassination,  if  I  dared  to  protect  the  ceremony  by 
military  force."  Without  General  Scott's  military  force,  it  is 
confidently  believed  that  the  diabolism  of  treason  would  have 
accomplished  the  death  of  Abraham  Lincoln  before  his  inaugu- 
ration as  President.  In  his  Inaugural  Address,  he  spoke  calmly 
and  kindly  to  the  South.  We  quote  only  a  few  sentences: 

"Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States,  that,  by  the  accession  of  a  Republican  Adminis- 
tration, their  property  and  their  peace  and  personal  security  are 
to  be  endangered.  There  never  has  been  any  reasonable  cause 
for  such  apprehension.  Indeed,  the  most  ample  evidence  to  the 
contrary  has  all  the  while  existed,  and  been  open  to  their  inspec- 
tion. It  is  found  in  nearly  all  of  the  published  speeches  of  him 
who  now  addresses  you.  I  do  but  quote  from  one  of  those 
speeches,  when  I  declare  that  I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or 
indirectly,  to  interfere  with  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists. 

"A  disruption  of  the  Federal  Union,  heretofore  only  menaced, 
is  pow  formidably  attempted.  I  hold  that,  in  the  contemplation 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  21 

of  universal  law  and  of  the  Constitution,  the  union  of  these 
States  is  perpetual.  Perpetuity  is  implied,  if  not  expressed,  in 
the  fundamental  law  of  all  national  governments.  It  is  safe  to 
assert,  that  no  government  proper  ever  had  a  provision  in  its 
organic  law  for  its  own  termination.  Continue  to  execute  all  the 
express  provisions  of  our  National  Constitution,  and  the  Union 
will  endure  forever;  it  being  impossible  to  destroy  it,  except  by 
some  action  not  provided  for  in  the  instrument  itself. 

"  I  therefore  consider  that,  in  view  of  the  Constitution  and 
the  laws,  the  Union  is  unbroken;  and,  to  the  extent  of  my  ability, 
I  shall  take  care,  as  the  Constitution  expressly  enjoins  upon  me, 
that  the  laws  of  the  Union  shall  be  faithfully  executed  in  all  the 
States.  Doing  this,  which  I  deem  to  be  only  a  simple  duty  on 
my  part,  I  shall  perfectly  perform  it,  so  far  as  is  practicable,  unless 
my  rightful  masters,  the  American  people,  shall  withhold  the 
requisiton,  or  in  some  authoritative  manner  direct  the  contrary. 

"  I  trust  this  will  not  be  regarded  as  a  menace,  but  only  as  the 
declared  purpose  of  the  Union,  that  it  will  constitutionally  defend 
and  maintain  itself. 

"  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow-countrymen,  and  not 
in  mine,  is  the  momentous  issue  of  civil  war.  The  Government 
will  not  assail  you. 

"  You  can  have  no  conflict  without  being  yourseves  the 
aggressors.  You  have  no  oath  registered  in  Heaven  to  destroy 
the  Government;  while  I  shall  have  the  most  solemn  one  to 
preserve,  protect,  and  defend  it. 

"  I  am  loath  to  close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We 
must  not  be  enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it 
must  not  break,  our  bonds  of  affection. 

"  The  mystic  chords  of  memory,  stretching  from  every  battle- 
field and  patriot  grave  to  every  living  heart  and  hearth-stone  all 
over  this  broad  land,  will  yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union,  when 
again  touched,  as  surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our 
nature." 

These  words  of  President  Lincoln,  so  calmly  and  kindly 
spoken,  had  no  effect  upon  the  people  of  the  South;  they  had 
deliberately  entered  into  Secession,  and  they  steadily  pursued 
their  chosen  course.  They  continued  to  seize  the  Forts,  and 
Mints,  and  Custom  Houses  of  the  United  States,  and  to  organize, 
equip,  and  drill  their  soldiery.  On  the  eleventh  of  April,  Federal 
troops  were  stationed  in  Washinton  city ;  and  on  the  twelfth,  the 
Rebels  commenced  the  bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter,  and  that 


22  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

Fort  was  surrendered  to  them,  by  Major  Anderson,  on  the  day 
following.  On  the  fourteenth,  Governor  Yates  called  a  special 
session  of  the  Illinois  Legislature.  On  the  fifteenth  of  April,  the 
President  issued  a  proclamation  commanding  all  persons  in  arms 
against  the  Government  to  disperse  within  twenty  days^  and 
called  an  extra  session  of  Congress,  to  meet  July  fourth,  and 
called  for  seventy-five  thousand  Volunteers  for  three  months. 
The  Governors  of  Kentucky,  Virginia,  Tennessee,  and  Missouri, 
refused  to  furnish  troops  under  the  President's  proclamation, 
claiming  that  their  States  would  remain  "  neutral"  in  the  con- 
test ;  but  the  call  was  more  than  filled  within  twenty-four  hours. 
On  the  nineteenth  of  April,  the  Sixth  Massachusetts  Regiment 
was  attacked  by  a  mob  while  passing  through  Baltimore  to  Wash- 
ington. On  the  twenty-fourth,  Cairo,  Illinois,  was  occupied  by 
Union  troops;  and  on  the  twenty-fifth,  Illinois  Volunteers  re- 
moved twenty-two  thousand  stand  of  arms  from  the  United 
States  Arsenal  in  St.  Louis,  to  Springfield,  Illinois.  On  the 
twenty-seventh,  all  the  officers  of  the  Regular  Army  who  still 
remained  in  the  service,  were  required  to  take  the  Oath  of  Alle- 
giance to  the  United  States.  On  the  third  of  May,  President 
Lincoln  called  for  forty  thousand  three  years  Volunteers,  and 
twenty-two  thousand  troops  for  the  Regular  Army,  and  eighteen 
thousand  seamen.  The  call  was  quickly  filled.  On  May  twenty- 
fourth,  thirteen  thousand  Union  troops  crossed  the  Potomac,  and 
occupied  Arlington  Heights.  On  the  first  of  June,  there  was  a 
cavalry  skirmish  at  Fairfax  Court  House,  Virginia.  On  the 
third,  Colonel  Kelly  defeated  the  Rebels  in  a  skirmish  at  Phil- 
lippi,  Virginia,  killing  fifteen.  On  the  tenth,  was  fought  the 
battle  of  Big  Bethel ;  and  on  the  eleventh,  a  skirmish  at  Romney ; 
and  on  the  same  day,  a  skirmish  occurred  at  Cole  Camp,  Mo. 
On  the  seventh  of  July,  General  Patterson  defeated  the  Con- 
federates at  Falling  Water,  Virginia.  On  the  fifth,  Siegel  was 
defeated  at  Carthage,  Missouri.  On  the  twelfth,  Colonel  W.  S. 
Rosecrans  defeated  the  Confederates  at  Rich  Mountain,  Virginia, 
the  enemy  losing  one  hundred  and  fifteen  killed  and  wounded, 
eight  hundred  prisoners,  and  their  wagons,  guns,  and  camp 
equipage.  On  the  twenty-first  of  July,  occurred  the  battle  of 
Bull  Run.  The  Union  forces,  forty-five  thousand  strong,  under 
the  command  of  General  McDowell,  were  defeated,  losing  four 
hundred  and  eighty-one  killed,  one  hundred  and  four  wounded, 
and  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  sixteen  missing.  General 
Beauregard  reported  the  Confederate  loss  at  two  hundred  and 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  23 

sixty-nine  killed,  and  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  eighty- 
three  wounded.  The  Union  troops  disgracefully  retreated  upon 
Washington,  and  the  Confederates  disgracefully  retreated  toward 
Richmond.  On  the  tenth  of  August,  General  Lyon,  with  five 
thousand  troops,  attacked  General  McCulloch,  at  Wilson's  Creek, 
Missouri.  General  Lyon  was  killed,  and  Colonel  Siegel  and 
Major  Sturgis  retreated  to  Springfield,  but  McCulloch  did  not 
follow.  The  Rebel  loss,  as  reported  by  McCulloch,  was  two  hun- 
dred and  sixty-five  killed,  and  eight  hundred  wounded ;  Federal 
loss  two  hundred  and  three  killed,  and  one  thousand  and  twelve 
wounded  and  missing.  On  the  tenth  of  September,  occurred  the 
battle  of  Carnifix  Ferry,  the  Federals  being  successful  under 
Brigadier  General  Rosecrans.  On  the  twenty-first  of  October, 
was  fought  the  battle  of  Ball's  Bluff,  in  which  General  Baker,  of 
the  Union  Army,  and  United  States  Senator  from  Oregon,  was 
killed.  The  Union  troops  were  defeated,  with  a  loss  of  two  hun- 
dred and  twenty-three  killed,  three  hundred  and  sixty-six  wounded, 
and  three  hundred  and  fifty-five  prisoners.  On  November  seventh, 
General  prant,  with  two  thousand  eight  hundred  troops,  attacked 
Belmont,  Missouri,  and  drove  the  enemy  from  his  camp;  who, 
being  reinforced,  renewed  the  battle,  and  General  Grant  retreated. 
Union  loss,  eighty-four  killed,  two  hundred  and  eighty-eight 
wounded,  and  thirty-five  missing.  On  January  nineteenth,  1862, 
was  fought  the  battle  of  Mill  Spring,  Kentucky,  in  which  the 
Rebels  were  defeated,  and  the  Rebel  General  Zollicoffer  killed. 
On  February  eighth,  General  Burnside  captured  from  the  Rebels 
the  six  forts  on  Roanoke  Island,  with  three  thousand  small  arms, 
and  two  thousand  five  hundred  Rebel  prisoners.  On  the  six- 
teenth, Fort  Donelson  surrendered  to  General  Grant,  with  fifteen 
thousand  prisoners,  forty  cannon,  and  twenty  thousand  stand  of 
small  arms.  The  Union  loss  was  three  hundred  and  twenty-one 
killed,  one  thousand  and  forty-six  wounded,  and  one  hundred  and 
fifty  missing.  On  March  eighth,  General  Curtis  was  attacked  by 
Van  Dorn,  Price,  and  McCulloch,  at  Pea  Ridge,  Missouri. 
General  Curtis  defeated  the  Rebels.  The  Union  loss  was  two 
hundred  and  twelve  killed,  and  nine  hundred  and  twenty-six 
wounded.  On  April  sixth,  the  Rebels,  under  General  Albert 
Sidney  Johnson  and  General  Beuregard,  attacked  General  Grant 
at  Pittsburg  Landing,  Tennessee,  and  were  defeated  on  the  next 
day  by  General  Grant.  Genaral  Johnson  was  killed.  The  Union 
loss  was  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  fourteen  killed,  seven 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-one  wounded,  and  three 


24  NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty-six  missing,  and  the  RebeJ  loss 
full  y  as  great.  On  the  eighth 'of  April,  Island  No.  10,  in  the 
Mississippi  below  Cairo,  was  captured  by  General  John  Pope, 
with  five  thousand  Rebel  prisoners,  one  hundred  siege  guns, 
twenty-four  pieces  of  field  artillery,  five  thousand  stand  of  small 
arms,  two  thousand  hogsheads  of  sugar,  and  large  quantities  of 
ammunition.  On  the  twenty-fifth  of  April,  Commodore  Farragut 
captured  New  Orleans.  On  June  first,  the  Rebels  were  defeated 
at  Fair  Oaks,  and  withdrew.  The  Union  loss  was  eight  hundred 
and  ninety  killed,  and  four  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-four 
wounded.  On  June  thirtieth,  1862,  General  McClellan  retreated 
from  Richmond,  after  several  days'  very  severe  fighting  and 
terrible  loss.  On  July  first,  was  fought  the  battle  of  Mal.vern 
Hill,  the  last  of  the  Richmond  battles.  In  the  six  days'  fighting 
before  Richmond,  the  Union  loss  was  one  thousand  five  hundred 
and  sixty-one  killed,  seven  thousand  seven  hundred  and  one 
wounded,  and  five  thousand  nine  hundred  and  fiftv-eight  missing. 
On  this  day,  July  i,  1862,  President  Lincoln  called  for  three  hun- 
dred thousand  additional  Volunteers;  and  it  was  under  this  call 
that  the  Ninety-Second  enlisted.  We  have  only  faintly  touched 
upon  the  terrible  struggle  which  had  been  going  on  with  treason 
since  President  Lincoln's  inauguration.  Immense  armies  were 
in  the  field;  and  while  the  Union  forces  were  many  times  success- 
ful, their  ranks  were  sadly  thinned  by  battles  and  disease.  Some 
one  must  take  up  the  muskets  our  dead  and  wounded  soldiers 
could  no  longer  handle,  and  continue  the  battle  for  the  Union  and 
Liberty  so  heroically  commenced;  and  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois 
Volunteers  was  a  part  of  the  grand  Army  of  three  hundred  thou- 
sand that  marched  to  the  war  under  the  President's  call  of  July 
i,  1862.  And  this  is  the  way  we  have  told  the  storv  of  what  it 
was  all  about,  and  how  it  happened  that  the  Ninety-Second  went 
to  the  War. 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  25 


CHAPTER  II. 

RECRUITING — REGIMENTAL  ORGANIZATION — THE  FIRST  DRESS 
PARADE — CAMI'  LIFE  AT  ROCKKORD — REGIMENTAL  DRILL 
IN  PRESENCE  OK  THE  LADIES — THE  FIRST  MARCH — THE 
FIRST  MAN  WOUNDED — CAMP  AT  COVINGTON,  KY. — ORDERS 
TO  MARCH — COMPANY  A  BUYS  MUTTON  FOR  THE  HOSPITAL 
— CAMPING  IN  A  SNOW-STORM — LEXINGTON — MT.  STERLING 
— THE  DIFFICULTIES  ON  THE  NEGRO  QUESTION — KEN- 
TUCKY METHODISTS — MARCHING  AWAY  FROM  MT.  STER- 
LING— WINCHESTER — SUITS  AGAINST  THE  COLONEL  FOP 
STEALING  NEGROES— LEXINGTON— NICHOLASVILLE — MARCH 
ING  AFTER  JOHN  MORGAN — A  SLAVE  AUCTION — TAKING 
THE  OATH  OF  ALLEGIANCE — OFF  FOR  LOUISVILLE — EM- 
HARKING  ON  STEAMERS — "  GOOD  BYE,  LOYAL  KENTUCKY." 

That  was  a  gloomy  period  in  the  history  of  the  war,  when 
President  Lincoln  issued  his  cail  for  "  three  hundred  thousand 
more,"  on  July  first,  1862.  McClellan  had  been  hurled  back,  with 
terrible  loss,  from  the  very  battlements  of  Richmond.  Soldiers 
on  crutches  and  soldiers  with  an  "  empty  sleeve  "  were  becoming 
familiar  sights  in  the  North.  The  rough  pine  boxes  at  the  ex- 
press offices  were  often  seen ;  they  contained  the  remains  of  the 
"boys  in  blue"  who  had  fallen  on  the  battle-field,  in  the  camp, 
or  the  hospital,  brought  home  for  burial,  that  loving  eyes  might 
bedew  their  graves  with  tears,  and  loving  hands  bedeck  them 
with  flowers.  The  North  was  commencing  to  realize  how  ter- 
ribly in  earnest  the  battle  was.  To  many  it  appeared  that  the 
countrv  could  not  spare  any  more  of  its  young  men.  In  North- 
ern Illinois  the  golden  grain  fields  were  bowing  their  heavily 
laden  heads,  and  inviting  the  commencement  of  the  harvest, 
and  the  laborers  were  few.  The  quota  of  Illinois  was  large,  and 
it  required  time  to  get  the  machinery  of  recruiting  and  organiza- 
tion into  working  order.  At  length,  on  the  fourth  of  August, 
the  good  President  "  put  his  foot  down  firmly,"  and  directed  a 
draft  of  three  hundred  thousand  in  addition  to  the  call  of  the 

3 


26  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

first  of  July.  Then  the  people,  with  an  impulse  that  was  grand, 
took  hold  of  the  work  in  earnest.  In  every  school  house  in  the 
three  counties  from  which  the  Ninety-Second  was  recruited, 
meetings  were  held;  the  fife  sent  out  its  shrill  notes,  and  the 
drum  its  roll,  and  the  old  flag  was  displayed ;  the  harvest  hands 
gathered  to  the  meetings  after  their  days  of  toil.  Patriotic  songs 
were  sung :  "  We  will  rally  around  the  Flag,  boys,  rally  once 
again,  shouting  the  battle  cry  of  Freedom,"  and  partriotisin 
took  up  the  refrain,  and  arswered  it,  "We  are  coming,  Father 
Abraham,  six  hundred  thousand  more."  Gray  haired  fathers, 
who  had  already  sent  one  or  more  sons  to  the  battle,  attended  the 
meetings,  and  saw  their  remaining  sons  enlist.  Many  who  went 
onlv  to  hear  the  speeches  and  songs,  were  touched  with  the  pre- 
vailing spirit  of  patriotism,  and  signed  their  names  to  the  muster 
rolls.  Eloquent  speakers,  many  of  whom  did  not  say  "  Go,  boys," 
but  said,  "Come,  boys,"  told  the  story  of  the  Nation's  peril. 
Many  who  had  seen  the  battle's  terrible  carnage,  and  were  not 
dismayed,  were  ready  to  go  again  to  the  front,  and  eloquently 
plead  with  the  people  to  "  fill  the  vacant  ranks  of  their  brothers 
gone  before."  The  sacred  fires  of  Liberty  were  kindled  in  these 
meetings,  and  the  people  lifted  up  to  the  high  resolve  of  demon- 
strating to  the  world  the  strength  of  Republican  government, 
that  a  free  people,  of  their  own  free  will,  with  courage  sublime, 
would  not  halt  in  the  battle  for  the  Nation's  existence,  but  march 
forward,  filling  the  battle-broken  ranks  of  the  army  corps  in  the 
field.  It  was  a  greater  task  than  any  nation  had  before  accom- 
plished; not  to  beat  off  the  assaults  of  a  foreign  foe,  but  the  far 
more  difficult  one  of  "  saving  ourselves  from  ourselves."  It  was 
in  these  meetings  that  "party  was  sunk  in  patriotism;"  and  those 
who  had  been  fighting  political  battles*  clasped  their  hands  in 
friendship,  and  signed  together  the  agreement  to  enlist,  and 
together  to  march  and  fight.  No  one  who  witnessed  the  recruit- 
ing in  the  summer  of  «i862,  in  Northern  Illinois,  will  ever  forget 
it;  the  people  rallying  from  their  harvest-fields,  leaving  the 
ripened  grain  ungathered,  to  fill  the  ranks  of  the  new  regiments. 
It  was  grand,  beyond  all  power  of  ours  to  tell.  The  true  story  of 
the  enlistment  of  the  ten  companies  of  the  Ninety-Second  would 
require  more  space  than  this  whole  book.  It  never  will  be  told 
in  print.  Grandsires  will  tell  to  their  grandchildren  the  story  of 
that  great  uprising  of  the  people,  when  the  fires  of  Liberty  were 
lighted  in  the  hour  of  the  Nation's  need;  and  they  in  turn  will  tell 
it  to  their  grandchildren;  and  its  effect  will  not  be  lost  in  the  Re- 


XINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  27 

public  for  generations  to  come.  It  was  at  first  thought  that  one 
regiment  might  be  raised  in  the  counties  of  Stephenson,  Ogle, 
Carroll,  Jo  Daviess,  Winnebago,  Boone,  McHenry,  and  Lake. 
But  it  was  found  that  four  regiments  and  three  companies  were 
ready  to  muster,  when  finally  put  into  camp  at  Rockford. 
Major  Smith  D.  Atkins,  of  the  Eleventh  Illinois  Infantry,  by  the 
direction  of  Governor  Yates,  had  charge  of  the  enlistment  of 
companies  in  Stephenson,  jo  Daviess,  Ogle,  and  Carroll  counties. 
By  his  direction,  Captain  Stouffer,  of  one  of  the  Mt.  Carroll  com- 
panies, afterwards  of  the  Ninety-Second,  went  into  camp  with 
his  company  at  Rockford,  on  July  twenty-second,  1862,  and  was 
joined  by  the  other  companies,  afterwards  organized  into  the 
Regiment  within  a  few  days  thereafter.  Bv  the  twenty-sixth  of 
August,  forty-three  companies  were  encamped  at  Rockford. 
Barracks  were  built  of  pine  boards;  but  it  was  not  till  long  after- 
wards that  the  soldiers  learned  to  appreciate  how  comfortably 
they  were  situated.  The  companies,  by  ballot,  selected  their 
Captains  and  Lieutenants;  and  the  officers  and  men  of  the  com- 
panies selected  the  regimental  officers.  For  days  there  was  little 
drilling.  The  making  up  of  regiments,  and  who  should  be  Colo- 
nel, and  who  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  who  Major,  were  the 
important  questions  discussed.  The  following  ten  companies 
unanimously  resolved  themselves  into  a  regimental  organization  : 
Captain  William  J.  Ballinger,  Lena,  Stephenson  Countv;  Captain 
VVilber  W.  Dennis,  Byron,  Ogle  County ;  CaptainWilliam  Stouffer, 
Mt.  Carroll,  Carroll  County ;  Captain  Lyman  Preston,  Polo, 
Ogle  County ;  Captain  Matthew  Van  Buskirk,  Polo,  Ogle  County ; 
Captain  Christopher  T.  Dunham,  Freeport,  Stephenson  County ; 
Captain  John  M.  Schermerhorn,  Lena,  Stephenson  County; 
Captain  James  Brice,  Rochelle,  Ogle  County;  Captain  Egbert  T. 
E.  Becker,  Mt.  Carroll,  Carroll  County ;  Captain  Albert  Wood- 
cock, Oregon,  Ogle  County.  And,  with  the  same  remarkable 
unanimity,  every  commissioned  officer  and  soldier  in  the  ten 
companies  petitioned  Governor  Yates  to  be  mustered  in  a  regi- 
ment together,  under  Major  Smith  D.  Atkins,  of  Freeport, 
Stephenson  County,  as  Colonel.  Their  unanimous  request  was 
granted.  And  with  the  same  unanimity,  Benjamin  F.  Sheets,  of 
Oregon,  Ogle  Countv,  was  chosen  Lieutenant  Colonel ;  and  John 
H.  Bohn,  of  Mt.  Carroll,  Carroll  County,  was  chosen  Major. 
On  September  fourth,  1862,  under  the  direction  of  Hon.  A.  C. 
Fuller,  Adjutant  General  of  Illinois,  the  Ninety-Second  was 
mustered  into  the  United  States  service  "  for  three  years,  or 


28  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

during  the  war,"  by  Lieutenant  Long,  U.  S.  A.  As  soon  as 
mustered,  Adjutant  General  Fuller  made  a  speech  to  the  Regi- 
ment, thanking  the  men  for  their  patriotism,  and  telling  them 
how  much  Illinois  expected  from  them.  The  unanimity  which 
had  prevailed  in  the  organization  of  the  Regiment  was  continued. 
Isar  C.  Lawver,  of  West  Point  Township,  Stephenson  County, 
who  had  received  a  military  education  at  the  Military  School  at 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  and  had  refused  to  join  the  Re- 
hellion,  when  that  school  hroke  up  at  the  commencement 
of  the  war,  and  who  had  been  drilling  the  companies  at 
Rockford,  upon  the  unanimous  petition  of  all  the  line  officers, 
was  appointed  Adjutant  of  the  Regiment.  George  W.  Marshall, 
of  Mt.  Morris,  Ogle  County,  First  Sergeant  of  Company  K,  was 
promoted  to  Regimental  Quarter-master.  Clinton  Helm,  M.  D., 
of  Byron,  Ogle  County,  was  appointed  Regimental  Surgeon ; 
Thomas  Winston,  M.  D.,  of  Mt.  Morris,  Ogle  County,  First 
Assistant  Surgeon ;  Dr.  Nathan  Stephenson,  of  Fair  Haven, 
Carroll  County,  Corporal  of  Company  I,  was  promoted  to  Sec- 
ond Assistant  Army  Surgeon  of  the  Regiment;  Rev.  O.  D.  W. 
White,  of  Mt.  Carroll,  Carroll  County,  was  appointed  Chaplain ; 
Lieutenant  Orville  T.  Andrews,  of  Rockford,  Winnebago  County, 
who  had  lost  a  leg  in  the  battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing,  was  ap- 
pointed Sutler.  The  line  officers  met,  and  drew  lots  for  the  letter 
of  the  company  in  the  Regiment,  by  which  the  company  was  to 
be  afterwards  known.  Little,  square  slips  of  paper,  with  the 
letters  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G,  H,  I,  K,  were  written  and  put  into  a 
hat;  and  each  Captain  drew  out  a  slip,  and  the  letter  on  the  slipv 
became  the  letter  of  his  company.  Captain  W.  J  Ballinger,  of 
Lena,  drew  letter  A.  His  company  was  enlisted  in  Stephenson 
County,  and  principally  in  the  townships  of  Winslow,  West 
Point,  and  Kent.  Harvey  M.  Timms,  of  Loran,  was  First  Lieu- 
tenant, and  William  Cox,  of  Winslow,  Second  Lieutenant.  On 
the  day  of  muster,  the  company  numbered  ninety  all  told.  Cap- 
tain Albert  Woodcock,  of  Oregon,  Ogle  County,  drew  letter  K. 
His  company  was  enlisted  from  all  parts  of  Ogle  Count}'.  Hor- 
ace J.  Smith,  of  Oregon,  was  First  Lieutenant,  and  Horace  C. 
Scoville,  of  Mt.  Morris,  was  Second  Lieutenant.  There  were, 
ninety-four  rank  and  file.  Captain  C.  T.  Dunham,  of  Freeport, 
drew  letter  F.  His  company  was  organized  at  Freeport,  but  was 
made  up  of  men  from  all  parts  of  Stephenson  County.  Alfred 
G.  Dunham,  of  Cherry  Valley,  was  First  Lieutenant,  and  Wil- 
•  Ham  C.  Dove,  of  Freeport,  was  Second  Lieutenant.  The  com- 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  29 

pany  numbered  ninety-five.  Captain  Matthew  Van  Buskirk,  of 
Polo,  drew  letter  E.  His  company  was  enlisted  in  Ogle  County, 
in  the  vicinity  of  Polo,  Forreston,  and  Brookville.  Joseph  L. 
Spear,  of  Polo,  was  First  Lieutenant,  and  Jeremiah  Vorhis,  of 
Polo,  was  Second  Lieutenant.  The  company  was  ninety-four 
strong.  Captain  Wilber  W.  Dennis,  of  Byron,  drew  letter-  B. 
His  company  enlisted  in  Ogte  County,  in  the  vicinity  of  Byron 
and  Rock  Vale.  William  H.  Crowell,  of  Marion,  Ogle  County, 
was  First  Lieutenant,  and  Ephraim  W.  Bauder,  of  Leaf  River, 
Second  Lieutenant.  The  company  mustered  eighty-five.  Cap- 
tain John  M.  Schermerhorn,  of  Lena,  drew  letter  G.  His  com- 
pany was  raised  in  Stephenson  County,  principally  in  the 
townships  of  West  Point,  Kent,  and  Waddams.  John  Gishwiller, 
of  Lena,  was  First  Lieutenant,  and  Justin  N.  Parker,  of  Lena, 
Second  Lieutenant.  The  company  had  ninety-five  rank  and  file. 
Captain  Lyman  Preston,  of  Polo,  Ogle  County,  drew  letter  D. 
His  company  was  enlisted  in  Ogle  County,  in  the  vicinity  of  Polo 
and  Pine  , Creek.  George  R.  Skinner,  of  Polo,  was  First  Lieu- 
tenant, and  Oscar  F.  Sammis,  of  Polo,  Second  Lieutenant.  The 
company  had  ninetv-four  officers  and  men.  Captain  Egbert  T. 
E.  Becker,  of  Mt.  Carroll,  drew  letter  I.  His  company  was 
enlisted  in  Carroll  County,  Mt.  Carroll,  Lanark,  Cherry  Grove, 
and  Wysox  being  well  represented.  David  B.  Colehour,  of  Mt. 
Carroll,  was  First  Lieutenant,  and  Alexander  M.  York,  of  Lan- 
ark, was  Second  Lieutenant.  The  company  was  ninety-six 
strong,  aside  from  the  Captain,  who  was  the  strongest  man  in  the 
company.  Captain  William  Stouffer,  of  Mt.  Carroll,  drew  letter 
C.  His  company  was  raised  in  Carroll  County,  Mt.  Carroll, 
Savanna,  and  York  being  well  represented.  Robert  M.  A.  Hawk, 
of  Lanark,  was  First  Lieutenant,  and  Norman  Lewis,  of  York, 
Second  Lieutenant.  The  company  mustered  ninety-three. 
Captain  James  Brice,  of  Rochelle,  Ogle  County,  drew  letter  H. 
His  company  was  enlisted  in  Ogle  County,  principally  in  Ro- 
chelle and  White  Rock.  James  Dawson,  of  Rochelle,  was  First 
Lieutenant,  and  Edward  Mason,  of  White  Rock,  Second  Lieu- 
tenant. Captain  Brice  had  one  hundred  and  six  officers  and  men 
in  his  company,  aside  from  himself;  and  the  Captain  was  too  old 
to  he  counted,  except  for  his  lofty  patriotism,  which  induced  him 
to  enlist  when  far  on  the  downhill  side  of  life.  Company  H  was 
the  overflowing  company  of  the  Ninety-Second.  The  officers 
and  men  of  the  Regiment  had  not  been  subjected  to  the  searching 
medical  examination  required  by  strict  justice, — justice  to  the 


30  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

* 

men  themselves,  and  justice  to  the  Government,  which  required 
not  only  patriotic  hearts,  but  well  developed  brawn.  Yet,  taken 
together,  it  was  a  band  of  sturdy  yeomanry,  equal  to  any  for  the 
fatigue  of  the  march  or  the  shock  of  battle.  We  feel  perfectly 
safe  in  saying,  that  no  finer  body  of  men,  physically,  mentally, 
and  morally,  were  ever  mustered  together  into  a  military 
organization. 

On  September  5,  1862,  the  first  regimental  order  was  issued 
by  the  Colonel,  announcing  the  duties  of  the  day,  from  reveille 
in  the  morning  until  taps  at  night;  and  the  roll  calls,  sick  calls, 
meal  calls,  commissary  calls,  quarter-master  calls,  guard  mounts, 
squad  drills,  company  drills,  battalion  drill,  and  dress  parade,  took 
up  every  moment  of  time  from  sunrise  to  sundown.  Captains 
found  that  they  had  parted  with  some  of  their  authority.  If  they 
wanted  to  stroll  down  into  the  city,  it  was  necessary  to  obtain  a 
pass ;  and,  if  in  the  evening,  the  countersign  to  return  by ;  and 
passes  for  the  men  had  to  be  approved  at  the  head-quarters  of 
the  Regiment.  That  evening  the  first  regimental  dress  parade 
was  held.  Just  at  sundown,  the  Regiment  was  formed  into  line 
by  Adjutant  Lawver.  They  were  without  arms;  and  the  Colonel 
was  received,  with  great  solemnity,  by  each  officer  and  soldier 
removing  his  cap,  with  military  precision,  at  the  word  of  com- 
mand. Captain  Becker  and  associates  sang  The  Star  Spangled 
Banner.  The  Orderly  Sergeants  reported  the  strength  of  their 
companies.  The  commissioned  officers  marched  to  the  front  and 
center,  and  "  maintained  an  awful  line,  as  they  marched  up  to 
face  the  Colonel  for  the  first  time  at  dress  parade."  They  saluted 
him  gravely.  Parade  was  dismissed.  The  Orderly  Sergeants 
marched  their  companies  to  their  quarters,  and  the  officers  hur- 
ried after  them.  The  first  day's  soldiering  was  done. 

On  the  sixth,  Lieutenant  Tibbits,  U.  S.  A.,  paid  each  man  in 
the  Regiment  thirteen  dollars,  one  month's  pay.  The  seventh 
was  Sabbath.  Many  were  permitted  to  spend  the  Sabbath  at 
home,  with  family  and  friends  once  more.  Many  attended 
church  in  Rockford,  and  many  in  the  grove  adjoining  the  camp, 
on  the  banks  of  Rock  River,  a  beautiful  spot.  The  camp  was 
filled  with  visitors  from  miles  around.  On  Monday  forenoon, 
the  Regimental  Quarter-master  issued  uniforms;  and  in  the  after- 
noon, the  first  regimental  drill  was  had,  still  without  arms.  The 
next  day,  all  the  duties  called  for  by  orders  were  gone  through 
with.  Kind  friends  at  home  seemed  afraid  the  boys  would  starve; 
and  wagon  loads  of  cooked  provisions,  turkeys,  chickens,  pies, 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  31 

cakes,  puddings,  and  everything  else  that  loving  sister  or  mother 
could  imagine  a  soldier  would  eat,  were  brought  to  camp,  and 
resulted  in  about  half  the  Regiment  first  learning  to  "  double- 
quick,"  in  their  reluctant  endeavors  to  perform  the  "  Rock  River 
Quickstep."  That  never  was  a  popular  march  with  the  Ninety  - 
Second ;  but,  soonef  or  later,  every  officer  and  soldier  learned  it 
to  perfection.  It  was  laughable  to  see  them  "  light  out,"  solitary 
and  alone,  when  the  silent,  but  painful  order  came  to  "  march," 
and  to  note  how  slowly  and  demurely  they  would  creep  back  to 
their  quarters.  On  the  eleventh,  the  Colonel  left  for  Springfield, 
to  draw  arms  and  accoutrements;  and  the  next  day,  Lieutenant 
Colonel  Sheets  commanded  the  Regiment,  for  the  first  time  on 
battalion  drill.  He  made  a  fine  appearance  on  "  Old  Blutcher," 
whose  long  body,  and  long  legs,  and  long  neck,  and  long  nose, 
were  proofs  that  he  scented  the  battle  a  long  way  off,  and  longed 
for  the  fray.  On  the  thirteenth,  the  Colonel  returned  from 
Springfield  with  Enfield  Rifles  for  the  Regiment.  The  fourteenth 
was  Sabbath,  and  the  first  regimental  inspection  was  held. 
There  was  preaching  in  the  grove,  attended  by  the  entire  encamp- 
ment. Dress  parade,  with  a  religious  song  by  Captain  Becker's 
glee  club,  closed  the  duties  of  the  day.  On  Monday,  the  "  dress" 
coats  were  issued.  The  little  men  looked  laughable  in  their  dress 
coats,  which  fit  them  like  a  shirt  on  a  bean  pole ;  but  the  large 
men,  with  their  hands  dangling  wildly,  six  inches  below  their 
coat  cuffs,  and.  their  coat  skirts  just  below  their  belts,  were  the 
most  laughable.  By  dint  of  considerable  swapping  between  the 
big  and  the  little  fellows,  a  nearer  approach  to  a  fit  was  obtained; 
and  the  company  tailors,  by  cutting  off  redundancies  for  the  little 
ones,  and  letting  out  seams  for  the  big  ones,  finally  brought  the 
men  into  fair  uniformity  in  dress.  The  Regiment  was  now  in 
complete  uniform ;  the  guns  and  equipments  were  new  and  bright; 
the  men  were  becoming  steady  in  their  drill,  and  methodical  in 
their  movements;  the  officers  acquiring  confidence  in  their  ability 
to  command.  Company  A  bought  a  handsome  sword  for  Cap- 
tain Ballinger,  which  was  presented  with  speech-making  and 
replies,  and  wound  up  with  an  oyster  supper  given  by  the  Cap- 
tain to  his  company.  On  the  seventeenth,  bv  special  application 
to  Governor  Yates,  permission  was  granted  to  the  Colonel  to  fur- 
lough twenty  men  from  each  company  for  forty-eight  hours. 
The  men  drew  lots  for  the  privilege  of  once  more  visiting  home, 
and  two  hundred  soldiers  were  made  happv.  Many  thought  their 
luck  was  hard,  when  a  comrade  with  no  wife  and  children  would 


32  NINETT-SBCOND    ILLINOIS. 

get  the  lucky  privilege,  and  they,  knowing  their  wives  and  babies 
were  lonely  at  home,  would  draw  blanks.  On  the  twenty-fourth, 
the  furloughed  men  were  back  to  camp;  and  the  Regiment 
marched  to  the  Fair  Grounds,  while  the  County  Fair  was  in 
progress,  as  did  the  other  regiments  in  camp  at  Rockford;  and 
the  members  of  the  Ninety-Second  thought'they  won  the  most 
plaudits  for  drill  and  soldierly  bearing.  On  Sunday,  the  twenty- 
first,  there  was  the  usual  inspection  of  arms,  clothing,  camps, 
quarters,  kitchens,  and  company  books.  Captains  were  begin- 
ning to  learn  that  they  were  responsible  for  ever}'  article  issued  to 
their  companies,  and  must  give  receipts  for  and  take  receipts  for 
everything  obtained  or  issued.  There  was  preaching  to  the  mul- 
titude of  soldiers  and  citizens  in  the  grove,  dress  parade  at  sun- 
down, and  a  temperance  lecture  to  the  troops  in  the  evening. 

On  Tuesday,  the  twenty-third,  the  papers  contained  the  Presi- 
dent's preliminary  emancipation  proclamation,  giving  the  Rebels 
one  hundred  days  to  return  to  their  allegiance.  That  it  created 
much  discussion  in  the  Regiment,  is  true.  It  was  a  rainy  day ; 
the  ordinary  camp  duties  were  suspended,  and  little  knots 
were  gathered  through  the  camp  discussing  it.  The  general 
verdict  was  approved.  Indeed,  manv  hoped  that  the  war  would 
not  end  before  the  hundred  days  had  expired,  and  the  freedom  of 
the  black  man  had  become  secure.  Some  of  the  arguments  used 
by  the  soldiers  were  exceedingly  apt  and  logical,  as  was  this: 
"According  to  the  Southern  idea,  the  black  man  is  property. 
Well,  now,  we  can  confiscate  property  in  war.  Nobody  com- 
plains if  we  take  their  mules  to  draw  our  wagon  trains.  If  a 
confiscated  mule  could  take  my  musket  and  stop  a  Rebel  bullet 
in  my  place,  I  would  not  be  sorry  about  it.  I  guess  a  nigger, 
who  is  property,  can  be  confiscated  from  the  Rebels ;  and  if  he 
will  take  a  musket  and  help  us  fight,  all  the  better  for  the  prop- 
erty." The  soldiers  could  see  that  freedom  to  the  black  man 
meant  regiments  and  brigades  of  black  men,  with  muskets  and 
bayonets.  On  the  next  day,  a  train  load  of  excursionists,  from 
Winslow,  Lena,  Freeport,  and  other  places,  visited  camp,  to  see 
their  friends  in  the  Regiment.  At  battalion  drill  that  afternoon, 
five  thousand  ladies  and  gentlemen  looked  on:  and  it  was  an 
awkward  drill,  for  the  officers  would  bow  to  their  particular  friends 
among  the  young  ladies;  and  the  men  would  not  keep  their  eyes 
steadily  to  the  front,  touching  the  ground  at  fifteen  paces;  but 
they,  too,  would  have  some  recognition  for  sweethearts,  or  a  sly 
glance  as  they  passed,  just  to  see  if  she  was  looking.  The  Colo- 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  33 

nel  had  so  many  sweethearts  to  attract  his  attention,  that  he  at 
one  time  forgot  all  about  the  Regiment,  and  it  marched  bang  up 
against  a  high  board  fence.  The  next  Sabbath,  the  Ninety- 
Second  escorted  the  74th  Illinois  Volunteers  to  the  depot,  that 
regiment  having  been  ordered  to  Louisville,  Kentucky.  On  the 
first  of  October,  knapsacks,  haversacks,  and  canteens  were 
issued.  The  few  old  soldiers  in  the  Regiment,  with  airs  of  im- 
portance, showed  those  who  had  never  seen  one  before,  how  to 
pack  a  knapsack.  From  the  first  to  the  sixth,  it  was  beautiful 
weather;  the  camp  was  full  of  visitors,  and  the  drills  were  fine 
displays.  On  the  seventh,  twenty-seven  dollars  advance  bounty 
money  was  paid  each  man.  On  the  night  of  the  seventh,  some 
foolish  difficulty  arose  between  a  portion  of  the  96th  and  Ninety- 
Second  men,  while  in  the  city ;  and  it  required  the  efforts  of  the 
officers  of  both  regiments  to  prevent  it  taking  the  shape  of  a 
general  scrimmage  with  muskets.  On  the  eighth,  the  9&th 
Illinois  Volunteers  left  Rockford  for  the  South.  On  the  morning 
of  the  ninth,  the  Ninety-Second  received  its  first  marching 
orders.  There  was  no  drilling.  The  camp  was  full  of  fathers, 
and  mothers,  and  sisters,  and  sweethearts,  bidding  their  soldier- 
boys  "good-bye."  It  was  no  ordinary  journey  on  which  that 
thousand  men  were  about  entering;  it  was  a  march  to  battle,  and, 
for  many,  to  the  grave.  No  one  could  tell  who  would  come  back 
again,  and  who  would  fall  by  the  way.  They  were  sad  good- 
byes. On  the  morning  of  the  tenth,  in  full  strength,  with 
blankets  rolled  and  knapsacks  packed,  the  Ninety-Second,  with 
music,  and  with  colors  flying,  marched  down  through  the  streets 
of  Rockford,  and  embarked  on  a  special  train  for  Chicago,  reach- 
ing there  at  3  P.  M.;  marched  through  the  streets  of  Chicago  to 
the  Illinois  Central  Depot,  and  stacked  arms.  At  6  P.  M.,  the 
Regiment  took  a  special  train  for  Cincinnati,  and  at  10  A.  M.  next 
day,  was  delaj'ed,  waiting  for  the  repair  of  the  railroad  bridge 
over  the  W abash  River,  near  the  battle-ground  of  Tippecanoe. 
Some  of  the  soldiers  straggled  oft"  into  the  surrounding 
orchards,  for  apples :  and  Dick  McCann,  of  Company  D,-  of  Polo, 
was  ferociously  attacked  by  a  tame  deer,  and  while  making  a  wild 
retreat,  the  deer,  with  his  sharp  antlers,  helped  Dick  along. 
Dick  was  the  first  man  wounded  in  the  Ninetv-Second,  and  the 
only  one  who  ever  retreated  without  orders.  Owing  to  various 
delays,  the  Regiment  did  pot  reach  Indianapolis  until  after  dark, 
and  was  all  night  reaching  Cincinnati,  arriving  there  at  daylight; 
and  marched  immediately  through  the  streets  of  Cincinnati,  in 
4 


34  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.. 

the  solemn  stillness  of  the  Sabbath  morning,  crossing  the  Ohio 
River  on  a  bridge  of  floating  coal  barges,  and  on  through  the 
city  of  Covington,  treading,  for  the  first  time, i the  "sacred  soil" 
of  Kentucky,  and  camped  four  miles  south  of  the  Ohio,  in  the 
valley  of  the  Licking.  The  sullen  roar  of  artillery  was  heard  to 
the  southward;  it  was  the  Union  advance,  pushing  along  the  rear 
guard  of  the  Rebel  column,  under  Kirby  Smith,  whose  near 
approach  to  Cincinnati  had  frightened  some  of  the  Porkopolis- 
ites  nearly  out  of*  their  wits.  The  Regiment  held  a  dress  parade 
at  sundown ;  and  then,  without  tents,  for  the  first  time,  spread 
their  blankets  on  the  ground,  and  lay  wearily  down,  with  only 
the  star-lit  dome  of  heaven  above  them. 

On  Monday,  the  Regiment  drew  Bell-Tents,  and  a  six-mule 
team  and  wagon  for  each  company.  The  entire  day  was  spent  in 
breaking  in  the  little  three-year  old  mules,  and  in  pitching  tents, 
and  fixing  up  camp.  On  the  next  day,  there  was  a  review  and 
inspection  of  the  Regiment,  General  Baird,  Division  Commander, 
being  present;  and  he  complimented  the  Regiment  highly  for  its 
fine  marching  and  drill.  On  the  fifteenth,  the  Union  regiments 
that  had  garrisoned  Cumberland  Gap,  reached  Covington,  ragged, 
footsore,  and  weary.  The  camping  ground  was  among  the  most 
abrupt  hills  and  gullies;  and  the  battalion  drills  at  Covington 
will  long  be  remembered.  No  matter  how  rough  the  ground, 
the  regimental  manoeuvres  were  gone  through  with  all  the  same; 
and  it  was  laughable  to  see  the  men  sometimes  helping  each 
other  up  the  abrupt  banks,  or  trying  to  dress  into  line  on  a  side- 
hill  so  steep  they  could  not  stand  still  in  the  position  of  a 
soldier.  At  noon,  on  the  eighteenth  of  October,  the  Regiment 
received  orders  to  be  ready  to  march  at  4  P.  M.  It  was  not  to 
march  by  cars  or  steamer,  but  to  strap  knapsacks  on  backs;  roll 
blanket,  and  tie  the  ends  together,  and  hang  it  over  the  shoul- 
der; put  on  a  belt  with  a  cartridge  box  and  forty  rounds  of  ball 
cartridges;  bayonet  scabbard,  with  bayonet  in  it;  and,  with  a 
heavy  Enfield  Rifle,  take  the  "  route  step"  and  trudge  along 
through  the  country,  weary  mile  after  weary  mile.  The  start 
was  always  splendid;  every  man  in  ranks,  colors  flying,  drum 
corps  playing,  arms  at  a  shoulder  or  right  shoulder  shift,  and  left, 
left,  left,  always  with  the  tap  of  the  bass  drum  ;  but  after  a  while, 
the  drum  corps  quit  playing,  the  colors  were  furled,  and  "  route 
step"  was  the  command.  The  officers  returned  swords  to  scab- 
bards, and  the  men  no  longer  carried  their  arms  in  any  particular 
way,  or  tried  to  keep  step,  but  trudged  along,  like  any  other  weary 


XINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  3$ 

foot-man,  for  miles  and  miles  and  miles,  through  towns,  over 
streams,  passing  farm,  and  orchard,  and  forest,  up  hill,  down  hill, 
on,  on,  on.  The  march  was  to  Independence,  county-seat  of 
Kenton  County,  probably  thirteen  miles  from  the  camp  at  Cov- 
ington,  through  a  beautiful  country,  along  a  broad,  smooth,  lime- 
stone pike  road.  Needham,  the  Drum  Major,  had  marched  in 
the  armjr  before,  and  he  tried  hard  to  keep  the  Regiment  from 
pushing  on  so  fast,  but  it  was  useless;  the  men  were  fresh  and 
strong,  and  they  pushed  ahead,  determined  to  reach  camp  and 
have  the  march  over.  The  men,  as  they  marched  along  that 
October  afternoon,  continually  heard  the  rumble  of  artillery-firing 
to  the  front,  the  skirmishing  of  the  Union  forces  with  the  Rebels 
under  Morgan,  whose  advance,  on  its  march  southward,  occupied 
Lexington  that  dav.  The  Regiment  went  into  camp  after  dark, 
on  the  County  Fair  Grounds  of  Kenton  County.  It  was  a  much 
longer  march  than  the  Regiment  ought  to  have  made;  and  weary 
and  tired  out  with  their  first  day's  marching  of  thirteen  miles, 
began  late  and  ended  late,  many  sank  upon  the  ground  in  an 
exhausted  condition,  and  went  supperless  to  sleep.  It  rained 
during  the  night, — rained  as  it  only  can  when  thousands  of  men 
are  laying  out  in  the  storm  without  shelter.  Reveille  sounded  at 
the  first  gray  of  morning;  the  Regiment  was  roused  from  slum- 
ber, and  many  stood  cold  and  shivering.  A  high  board  fence 
inclosed  the  Fair  Grounds;  but  not  a  board  could  be  touched  for 
fires  to  fry  the u sow-belly"  and  make  coffee;  and  many  munched 
their  "  hard-tack"  in  the  rain,  and  made  no  effort  to  cook.  Many 
who  had  disdained  the  coarse  army  shoes,  with  broad  heels  and 
fiat,  thick  soles,- and  clung  to  their  neat-fitting  French  calf-skin 
boots,  learned  their  error;  they  could  not  get  their  boots  on  their 
swollen  feet,  and,  tieing  them  together,  they  slung  them  over 
their  shoulders,  and  marched  on  the  gritty  pike  in  their  bare  feet. 
At  seven  A.  M.,  the  Regiment  moved  out,  and  down  the  pike 
road,  and  made  nineteen  miles  that  day.  The  Regiment  marched 
at  sunrise  on  the  twentieth,  and  left  the  pike  road  to  strike  Fal- 
tnouth  in  the  Licking  River  valley;  but  after  fourteen  miles' 
inarch,  being  delayed  by  the  igth  Michigan  wagon  trains,  halted 
for  th£  night.  On  the  twenty-first,  the  inarch  was  resumed  early. 
Soon  after  marching,  the  Colonel  observed  some  men  of 
Company  A  going  into  the  fields.  Their  movements  were 
watched.  They  killed  a  couple  of  sheep,  and,  dressing  them,  put 
the  mutton  into  the  company  wagon  of  Company  A.  The  Regi- 
ment kept  on,  and  reached  Falmouth  at  eleven  A.  M.  The 


36  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

owner  of  the  sheep  killed,  professing  to  be  a  good  Union  man, 
was  soon  detailing  his  loss  of  mutton  to  the  Colonel.  The  men 
of  Company  A  were  called  up;  they  saw  they  were  caught;  and, 
as  the  Colonel  suggested  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  to  take 
up  a  collection  and  pay  for  the  sheep,  it  was  quickly  done.  Then 
said  one  of  them,  "  Well,  Colonel,  I  suppose  we  can  have  the 
mutton  now?"  But  the  Colonel  replied,  "  No,  it  is  paid  for;  and 
this  time  I  will  let  you  off  without  further  punishment.  But, 
boys,  just  take  the  mutton  up  to  the  hospital,  to  make  broth  for 
the  sick."  The  joke  on  Company  A  got  out  among  the  other 
companies  of  the  Regiment;  and  if  any  one  said,  "  Ba!  ba!"  to  a 
Company  A  man  after  that,  he  had  to  run  or  fight.  The  Regi- 
ment went  into  regular  camp  at  Falmouth,  and,  the  next  day  and 
the  day  following,  had  regular  battalion  drills. 

On  the  twenty-fourth,  the  Regiment  marched  at  six  A.  M. 
for  Lexington,  and,  after  marching  sixteen  miles  over  a  very  hilly 
country,  camped  on  the  banks  of  the  Licking ;  and,  on  the  next 
day,  marched  fourteen  miles,  being  turned  out,  off  from  the  pike 
onto  a  dirt  road  at  four  P.  M.,  by  command  of  General  Granger, 
to  save  a  mile's  march,  and  was  two  hours  marching,  in  mud 
ankle  deep,  to  make  a  mile  and  a  half,  and  camped  at  dark  near 
Cynthiana,  in  a  snow-storm,  with  snow  five  or  six  inches  deep. 
The  Colonel  declined  to  occupy  a  house  near  at  hand  for  his 
head -quarters,  but  had  the  snow  cleared  away,  and  his  tent  put 
up,  and  a  fire  built  close  to  the  door  in  front,  and  then  sounded 
the  "officers'  call,"  just  to 'show  the  officers  how  snug  and  com- 
fortable one  could  make  himself,  even  in  a  dark  night,  and  in  a 
snow-storm,  by  a  little  work.  He  then  sounded  the  "  orderlies' 
call,"  and  only  to  show  them  how  easy  it  was  to  make  themselves 
comfortable  by  trying.  But  it  was  a  sad  sight  to  stroll  through 
the  camp  and  see  the  men  stand  shivering  in  the  storm,  weary, 
and  apparently  helpless.  It  is  only  by  long  experience  that  sol- 
diers learn  how  to  take  care  of  themselves.  Money  had  been 
voluntarily  subscribed  by  the  officers  and  men,  to  purchase  in- 
struments for  a  band;  and  Collen  Bauden  left  by  rail  that 
evening  for  Cincinnati,  to  purchase  the  silver  horns  for  the  Ninety- 
Second  band.  On  the  twenty-sixth,  the  Regiment  trampetl  on 
through  the  snow  to  Paris,  and  camped  at  four  P.  M.  On  the 
twenty-seventh,  marched  early  for  Lexington,  but,  after  marching 
five  miles,  was  ordered  to  halt  and  go  into  camp.  The  twenty- 
eighth  was  a  beautiful  day,  and  the  Regiment  marched  early, 
and  reached  Lexington  at  three  P.  M.  The  march  was  along  the 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  37 

pike  north  of  Lexington,  the  most  beautiful  portion  of  the  blue- 
grass  region  of  Kentucky.  The  Regiment  passed  the  plantation 
of  Cassius  M.  Clay,  walled  in  by  stone  fences,  its  oak-studded 
blue-grass  fields  filled  with  blooded  Short  Horns.  The  Regiment 
was  joyfully  welcomed  in  Lexington,  by  the  colored  people, 
especially  by  one  little  darkey  at  the  head  of  the  Regiment,  who 
sang  without  ceasing,  in  a  sesawing  sort  of  a  way, 

"  Wake  up,  snakes,  pelicans,  and  Sesh'ners! 
Don't  you  hear  'um  comin' — 

Comin'  on  de  run? 

Wake  up,  I  tell  yer!     Git  up,  Jefferson  ! 
Bobolishion's  comin' — 
Bob-o  lish-i-on!" 

The  Regiment  marched  through  the  city  in  column  of  platoons, 
arms  at  a  right  shoulder  shift,  and  a  thousand  voices  joined  the 
chorus  of  "  John  Brown's  body  lies  a  mouldering  in  the  grave." 
The  Regiment  passed  in  sight  of  the  monument  of  Henry  Clay, 
a  beautiful  iron  column,  one  hundred  and  thirty  feet  high,  and 
camped  one  and  a  half  miles  west  of  Lexington. 

On  the  twenty-ninth,  orders  came  to  march ;  and  on  the  next 
day,  we  were  off  on  the  pike  to  Winchester,  and  marched  twelve 
miles  and  camped.  Negroes  came  flocking  to  the  Regiment,  and 
desired  to  accompany  it,  but  were  advised  by  the  Colonel  not  to 
do  so.  'During  the  night,  some  of  the  soldiers  who  had  been  out 
foraging  approached  a  picket  post,  where  Lieutenant  Scoville,  of 
Company  K,  was  on  duty,  and  were  arrested;  and  not  being  able 
to  account  for  their  turkeys,  chickens,  and  honey,  the  Lieutenant 
ordered  them  to  be  retained  at  the  picket  post  until  morning ; 
but  during  the  night,  they  slipped  away  from  the  picket  post,taking 
all  their  turkeys,  chickens,  and  honey  with  them,  and  the  army 
blanket  of  the  Lieutenant  in  addition.  The  Lieutenant  made  no 
report  of  their  arrest  the  next  morning.  On  the  morning  of  the 
thirty-first,  marched  early,  passing  through  Winchester,  and  as 
soon  as  east  of  the  town,  an  advance  guard  was  sent  out  for  the 
first  time.  The  Regiment  went  into  camp  in  the  woods,  early  in 
the  afternoon.  During  the  month,  the  Ninety-Second  had 
marched  five  hundred  and  fifty  miles.  All  day  long,  negroes 
had  been  flocking  to  the  Ninety-Second,  but  were  uniformly 
advised  to  return  to  their  masters. 

On  Saturday,  November  first,  1862,  the  Regiment  reached 
Mt.  Sterling,  Montgomery  County,  Kentucky,  and  went  into 


38  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

camp  one  mile  south  of  the  town.  While  the  Regiment  was 
marching  into  the  grove  to  encamp,  the  following  communication 
was  handed  to  the  Colonel : 

"  FAYETTEVILLE  Co.,  KY.,  Nov.  ist,  1862. 
COLONELS  COCHRAN  AND  ATKINS  : 

Gentlemen:  My  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Graves,  informs  me  that 
one  of  his  servants  has  left,  and  may  be  following  your  com- 
mand. Mr.  Graves  has  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  during  the 
Rebel  raid ;  they  have  taken  sixty  odd  of  his  cattle,  and  one  of 
his  best  horses.  I  feel  well  satisfied  that  Mr.  Graves  has  not 
aided  the  Rebellion ;  he  is  a  pacifier  man,  stays  at  home  attending 
to  his  farm.  You  will  confer  a  special  favor  on  me  by  granting 
any  aid  Mr.  Graves  ask's  in  regaining  his  servant,  which  may  be 
compatible  with  your  stations. 

Very  Respectfully  Yours, 

HOWARD  SHAFFER, 
JACOB  HOUGHS." 

On  the  back  of  which  was  written  the  following : 

"  COL.  ATKINS,  Comd'g  g2d  111.  Vol.: 

I  am  satisfied,  from  the  statement  of  the  above  gentleman,  as 
well  as  other  evidences  I  have,  that  Mr.  Graves  is  a 'loyal  citizen. 
He  informs  me  that  he  has  a  Boy  within  your  lines :  if  so,  have 
him  put  outside  of  the  lines.  Yours  Truly, 

J.  C.  COCHRAN, 
Col.  Comd'g  Demi-Brigade." 

The  Colonel  was  evidently  in  a  brown  study;  he  read  the 
order  over  again,  and  then  called  Major  Bohn,  and  giving  him 
the  order,  directed  him  to  learn  if  the  "  Boy"  referred  to  was  in 
the  lines  of  the  Regiment,  and  if  so,  to  have  him  put  outside, 
and  to  endorse  his  action  in  writing  on  the  order.  The  Colonel 
visited  the  village,  and  had  an  interview  with  the  so-called  Union 
men,  and  returned  to  camp  in  the  evening.  That  evening  the 
Colonel  examined  the  Proclamation  of  President  Lincoln,  dated 
September  22,  1862,  and  published  by  the  War  Department,  Ad- 
jutant General's  Office,  Washington,  September  24,  1862,  in 
General  Orders,  War  Department,  No  1391,  and  found  that  it 
contained  the  following : 

"  Attention  is  hereby  called  to  the  Act  of  Congress  entitled, 
'  An  Act  to  make  an  additional  Article  of  War,'  approved  March 
13,  1862,  and  which  Act  is  in  the  words  and  figures  following: 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  39 

"  Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives 
of  the  United  States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled,  That 
hereafter  the  following  shall  be  promulgated  as  an  additional 
Article  of  War  for  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  and 
shall  be  obeyed  and  observed  as  such : 

"  ARTICLE — All  officers  or  persons  in  the  Military  or  Naval 
service  of  the  United  States  are  prohibited  from  employing  any 
of  the  forces  under  their  respective  commands  for  the  purpose  of 
returning  fugitives  from  service  or  labor  who  may  have  escaped 
from  any  person  to  whom  such  service  or  labor  is  claimed  to  be 
due;  and  any  officer  who  shall  be  found  guilty  by  a  Court- 
Martial  of  violating  this  article  shall  be  dismissed  from  the 
service. 

"  SEC.  2.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  this  act  shall  take 
effect  from  and  after  its  passage." 

President  Lincoln,  in  his  Proclamation,  added,  "  And  I  do 
hereby  enjoin  upon  and  order  all  persons  engaged  in  the  military 
and  naval  service  of  the  United  States  to  observe,  obey,  and 
enforce,  within  their  respective  spheres  of  service,  the  act  and 
section  above  recited." 

The  Colonel  called  Major  Bohn,  and  called  for  the  order  irom 
Colonel  Cochran,  and  his  endorsement ;  the  order  was  handed  to 
the  Colonel,  with  the  following  endorsement  by  Major  Bohn : 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  92d  ILL.  VOL.,          i 

CAMP  DICK  YATES,  MT.  STERLING,  KY.,  / 

November  ist,  1862.      ) 

The  within  named  servant  has  been  taken  without  the  lines 
by  order  of  S.  D.  Atkins,  Col.  92d  111.  Vol. 

JOHN  H.  BOHN, 
Major  92d  Reg.  111.  Vol." 

The  Colonel  read  the  endorsement,  by  the  Major,  and  called 
his  attention  to  the  Article  of  War.  and  the  Proclamation  of 
President  Lincoln,  above  quoted,  and  desired  to  know  what 
answer  he  could  make  why  he  should  not  be  Court-Martialed 
and  dismissed  the  service;  and  assured  him  that  he  was  aston- 
ished that  anv  citizen  of  Carroll  Countv,  Illinois,  would  engage 
in  the  unspeakably  low  employment  of  hunting  up  black  men 
living  irom  slavery.  But  the  Major  was  an  able  lawyer,  and 
quite  equal  to  the  occasion.  Said  he,  "In  the  first  place,  I  was 
obeying  the  positive  order  of  my  superior  officer,  Colonel  Atkins; 
and  in  the  second  place,  I  did  not  return  the  '  Boy '  to  '  any  per- 
son to  whom  such  service  or  labor  is  claimed  to  be  due.'  I  took 


4o  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

him  to  the  picket  post,  and  told  him  to  make  tracks  for  the 
north  side  of  the  Ohio  river."  The  Major's  plea  was  accepted, 
and  he  was  not  Court-Martialed.  But  it  was  unanimously  re- 
solved by  the  Field  Officers,  that  if  Colonel  Cochran  sent  anv 
more  such  orders  they  should  not  be  obeyed ;  but  that  the  Proc- 
lamation of  President  Lincoln,  and  the  new  Article  of  War, 
should  be  the  rule  on  that  question. 

The  following  day  was  the  Sabbath.  The  camp  was  regularly 
laid  out,  and  policed.  A  Rebel  soldier,  who  was  home  on  a  fur- 
lough, was  brought  in.  Scouting  parties  were  sent  out  on  all  the 
roads,  and  permanent  picket  posts  and  regimental  guards  estab- 
lished. The  Colonel  prepared  an  order  assuming  command  of 
the  Post  of  Mt.  Sterling  and  vicinity,  and  went  to  the  village  to 
have  it  printed.  Before  printing  it  he  read  it  to  the  "  Loyal 
Kentuckians,"  who  gave  their  general  approval.  As  soon  as 
done  reading  the  order,  he  was  presented  with  several  written 
commands  from  Colonel  Cochran,  directing  him  to  deliver  up  fugi- 
tive slaves.  He  referred  the  citizens  to  the  Proclamation  of 
President  Lincoln  and  the  law  of  Congress  enacting  the  new 
Article  of  War,  and  declined  to  obey  the  orders  of  Colonel 
Cochran.  He  was  informed,  by  the  citizens,  that  Colonel 
Cochran  had  directed  them  to  report  his  refusal  to  him,  and  was 
assured  that  no  Kentuckian  would  countenance  a  set  of  "  nigger 
thieves,"  and  that  all  "  Loyal  Kentuckians "  would  withdraw 
their  support  from  his  command.  Thev  were  evidentlv  pleased 
at  his  refusal,  regarding  it  as  a  test  question,  and  said  that  if  the 
Colonel  was  sustained,  Kentuckv  would  be  a  unit  for  the  cause 
of  Jefferson  Davis.  The  Colonel  then  added  the  last  paragraph 
to  the  order,  and  it  was  printed  as  follows: 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  CAMP  DICK  YATES,      c 
MT.  STERLING,  KY.,  Nov.  2,  1862.  f 

"  General  Orders,  No.  i. 

"  In  compliance  with  General  Orders  No.  i,  issued  from  the 
Head-quarters  of  Demi  Brigade,  I  hereby  assume  command  of 
the  post  of  Mt.  Sterling  and  vicinity. 

"  Loyal  citizens  will  be  protected  as  such,  and  the  civil  au- 
thorities assisted  in  the  enforcement  of  the  laws. 

"  All  loyal  citizens  and  soldiers  in  Mt.  Sterling  and  vicinitv 
are  commanded  to  give  information  of  the  whereabouts  of  any 
one  who  is  now,  or  has  been  in  anv  capacity  in  the  Confederate 
service,  and  to  arrest  all  such  parties  found  in  Mt.  Sterling  or 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  41 

vicinity,  and  report  them  in  custody  to  the  commander  of  the 
post  for  further  proceedings. 

"  All  loyal  citizens  are  commanded  to  give  information  to  the 
commander  of  the  post,  of  the  whereabouts  of  any  citizen  who 
has  at  any  time  during  hostilities  given  any  aid  or  comfort  to  the 
common  enemy. 

"  Farmers  are  invited  to  bring  their  marketable  products  to 
the  town  and  camp  for  sale,  and  will  be  granted  protection  in  so 
doing. 

"  Dealers  in  intoxicating  liquors  are  commanded  not  to  sell,  or 
in  any  way  to  dispose  of  any  intoxicating  liquor  to  any  soldier. 
Any  one  doing  so  will,  for  the  first  offense,  have  his  stock  in 
trade  destroyed ;  and  for  the  second  offense,  be  severely  punished 
and  confined. 

"  Loyal  citizens  who  are  the  owners  of  slaves,  are  respectfully 
notified  to  keep  them  home,  as  no  part  of  my  command  will  in  any 
way  be  used  for  the  purpos*  of  returning  fugitive  slaves.  It  is 
not  necessary  for  Illinois  soldiers  to  become  slave-hounds  to 
demonstrate  their  loyalty;  their  loyalty  has  been  proven  upon 
too  many  bloody  battle-fields  to  require  new  proof. 

"  By  command  of  SMITH  D.  ATKINS, 

Col.  92d  111.  Vol.  Com.  Post. 

"  I   C.  LAWYER,  Adj't." 

That  order  appeared,  for  a  little  while,  to  have  settled  the  fate 
of  the  Ninety-Second.  There  was  no  Kentuckian  loyal  enough 
to  stand  the  last' paragraph !  The  very  officious  "loyal  Ken- 
tuckians,"  who  had  essayed  to  control  the  Colonel  in  his  action, 
were  the  most  bitter  in  denouncing  him  and  the  Regiment. 

An  amusing  incident  occurred  the  first  Sabbath  the  Regiment 
was  in  Mt.  Sterling.  Captain  Woodcock  and  Lieutenant  Horace 
J.  Smith  were  out  walking,  when  they  were  hailed  by  a  citizen, 
and  invited  to  come  in  and  stay  to  dinner.  During  the  conver- 
sation which  ensued,  Captain  Woodcock  had  informed  his  host 
that  he  belonged  to  the  Methodist  Church.  When  dinner  was 
announced  as  ready,  the  Kentuckian,  with  true  Kentucky  hos- 
pitality, addressed  them,  saving:  "  Well,  gentlemen,  before  we 
dine,  let  us  take  a  drink  of  Bourbon  whisky  ;  you  drink,  don't 
you,  Lieutenant?  There  is  no  use  of  asking  I  he  Captain,  because 
he  told  me  he  \\asa  Methodist,  and  the  Methodists  all  drink!"* 
The  Lieutenant  declined,  and  so  did  Captain  Woodcock ;  but  the 
Kentuckian  did  not  understand  how  Woodcock  could  be  a  mem- 

5 


42  NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

her  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  not  drink  Bourbon  whisky 
before  dinner.  There  was,  evidently,  considerable  difference 
between  Methodism  in  Kentucky  and  Methodism  in  Illinois. 

On  Monday,  the  regular  duties  of  the  camp  were  resumed. 
Many  negroes  flocked  to  see  the  dress  parade,  and  some  Ken- 
tucky white  ladies  came  to  see,  and  to  hear  the  music  and  hear 
the  songs  by  the  glee  club.  On  Tuesday,  November  4th,  1862, 
the  Regiment  held  an  informal  election  for  Member  of  Congress 
from  the  Third  Illinois  District,  which  resulted  in  an  almost 
unanimous  vote  for  Hon.  E.  B.  Washburne.  It  was  of  no 
importance.  Illinois  soldiers  in  the  field  were  disfranchised! 
Hospitals  were  arranged  in  the  unoccupied  buildings  in  the  vil- 
lage, and  under  the  care  of  the  Regimental  Surgeons  and  Miss 
Addie  Parsons,  of  Byron,  and  Miss  Fannie  Carpenter,  of  Polo, 
the  two  heroic  lady  nurses,  the  "  Daughters  of  the  Regiment," 
the  sick  of  the  Ninety-Second  were  comfortably  provided  for. 
The  Regiment  had  review,  inspection,  and  dress  parade.  Many 
prisoners  were  being  picked  up  by  our  scouting  parties.  On 
the  fifth,  Captain  Becker,  of  Company  I,  with  a  sufficient  guard, 
went  to  Lexington,  to  turn  over  fifty  prisoners  that  had  accumu- 
lated in  the  command.  Two  more  prisoners  were  brought  into 
camp.  At  night  it  rained.  At  about  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  the 
reports  of  two  guns  were  heard  in  quick  succession.  Needham, 
Drum  Major,  beat  the  long  roll,  and  in  just  three  minutes  the 
Regiment  was  in  line  of  battle.  Scouts  were  sent  out  in  all 
directions,  but  rio  enemy  was  found.  Some  said  the  guns  were 
fired  by  negroes  hunting  coons.  No  one  was  hurt;  but  Needham 
stove  in  the  heads  of  three  drums  in  beating  the  long  roll,  and 
Major  Bohngot  into  his  pantaloons  with  his  pantaloons  wrong  end 
up.  As  soon  as  it  was  demonstrated  that  no  enemy  was  near, 
the  men  returned  to  their  slumbers.  On  the  sixth,  Benjamin 
Hetrick,  of  Company  B,  was  shot  and  fatally  wounded  by  the 
accidental  discharge  of  a  gun  at  the  guard  tent.  lie  died  the  next 
day,  and  his  funeral,  on  the  eighth,  was  attended  by  the  entire 
Regiment.  The  ninth  was  Sabbath,  and  the  customary  inspec- 
tion of  arms,  clothing,  and  quarters  was  held.  The  weather  was 
beautiful.  The  preaching  by  the  Chaplain  was  largely  attended. 
The  camp  was  flooded  with  upward  of  five  hundred  colored  peo- 
ple, men  and  women,  old  and  young,  gaudily  dressed,  and  in 
tatters  and  rags,  and  of  all  colors.  A  soldier,  in  his  diary, 
writes:  "  Some  of  the  slaves  are  as  white  as  the  Yankees.  One 
child  was  as  white  as  any  child,  and  was  really  pretty.  The 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  43 

more  I  see  of  slavery,  the  more  I  hate  and  despise  the  accursed 
thing."  There  were  more  orders  from  Colonel  Cochran  to  de- 
liver up  fugitives,  but  they  were  not  obeyed.  At  night,  if  any 
negroes  were  in  the  camp  who  were  not  employed  as  servants  by 
the  officers,  they  were  turned  out  of  camp.  There  were  no 
rations  to  be  issued  to  them,  no  tents  or  clothing  for  them ;  and 
while  the  Colonel  would  not  issue  orders  to  return  them  to  their 
masters,  he  was  compelled  to  keep  his  camp  from  being  flooded 
and  overwhelmed  with  them.  From  day  to  day,  the  negro  prob- 
lem was  the  great  difficulty.  If  a  negro  was  employed  by  an 
officer  as  a  servant,  and  was  furnished  with  a  written  certificate 
by  the  officer  to  that  effect,  he  was  protected.  If  his  master 
called  for  him,  and  was  a  Rebel,  he  was  quietly  informed  that  his 
application  was  useless.  If  he  could  establish  his  loyalty,  there 
was  no  instance  where  the  officer  longer  employed  the  negro; 
neither  the  Colonel,  Lieutenant  Colonel,  nor  Major  employed  any 
colored  servant  in  Kentucky.  The  thirty-seven  officers  of  the 
Regiment  were  all  entitled  to  servants;  and  just  fifteen  employed 
Kentucky  negroes  in  that  capacity,  and  all  of  them  the  former 
slaves  of  Rebels,  either  serving  in  the  Rebel  army,  or  giving  aid 
or  comfort  to  the  Rebellion.  But  it  appeared  as  though  the  whole 
State  of  Kentucky  was  fated  to  go  wild  over  those  fifteen  colored 
servants. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  November,  the  water  having  given  out 
in  the  spring  near  the  encampment,  the  camp  was  moved  three 
miles  north  of  Mt.  Sterling,  on  the  Maysville  pike,  on  the  planta- 
tion of  Colonel  Thompson,  who  was  serving  "  loyal  Kentucky" 
in  the  Rebel  army.  Here  the  Regiment  camped  by  the  side  of 
his  cattle  pond.  The  frosty  nights  had  somewhat  purified  the 
water.  The  pond  was  simply  a  hole  scooped  out  in  a  field,  and 
the  bottom  puddled  to  hold  the  rain  water  that  accumulated  in  it. 
Thorougly  boiled,  and  set  out  over  night  in  the  frosty  air,  it  was 
a  very  palatable  and  healthful  drink.  On  the  fifteenth,  Major 
Bohn  drilled  the  Regiment  for  the  first  time.  In  the  night,  orders 
came  to  march  to  Nicholasville,  and  report  to  General  Baird. 
On  Sabbath  morning,  November  sixteenth,  the  Regiment 
marched  at  six  o'clock,  down  through  Mt.  Sterling,  and  out  on 
the  Winchester  pike.  About  sixty  men  of  the  Regiment  were 
left  in  the  hospitals  at  Mt.  Sterling,  under  the  charge  of  Dr.  Na- 
than Stephenson,  Army  Surgeon.  Little  regret  was  felt  at  leav- 
ing Mt.  Sterling.  But,  while  the  people  could  not  forgive  the 
Regiment  for  its  course  on  the  negro  question,  thev  were  exceed- 


44  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

ingly  hospitable,  and  many  good  Union  families  were  there. 
It  can  be  said,  to  the  great  credit  of  the  village,  that,  after  the 
Regiment  had  left,  the  residents  were  exceedingly  kind  to  the 
sick  of  the  Ninety-Second  left  behind.  The  Regiment  marched 
twelve  miles,  and  camped  on  the  old  ground  it  had  occupied  the 
night  before  reaching  Mt.  Sterling.  A  hard  rain-storm  prevailed 
during  the  night.  The  Regiment  again  marched  at  davlight. 
Many  negroes  came  in  from  the  fields  and  woods,  as  the  Regi- 
ment marched  along,  and  brought  wild  stories  of  the  gathering 
of  ten  thousand  armed  people  at  Winchester,  where  Colonel 
Cochran  was  encamped  with  the  I4th  Kentucky  Infantry,  and, 
with  the  assistance  of  the  Kentucky  "loyal"  blue  coated  soldiers, 
were  determined  to  take  the  colored  servants  emploved  by  the 
line  officers  out  of  the  Regiment  by  force,  and  "  clean  out"  the 
whole  Regiment  of  "  nigger  thieves."  A  few  miles  before  reach- 
ing Winchester,  a  Kentucky  lady  pointed  out  a  colored  lad  as  her 
"  Boy,"  and  demanded  of  the  Colonel  his  release ;  and  when 
asked  if  she  was  a  Union  woman,  she  replied,  "  No,  I  am  a  Rebel. 
You  can  keep  him  now,  but  you  will  never  take  him  or  any  other 
slave  beyond  Winchester;  and  you  yourself  \vill  be  put  into  jail, 
unless  you  are  killed."  The  Regiment  all  knew  that  the  Colonel 
did  not  want  to  be  killed,  or  go  to  jail.  When  the  Regiment 
reached  the  top  of  the  hill  near  Winchester,  where  the  men  could 
look  down  into  the  town,  it  was  apparent  that  the  stories  told  by 
the  negroes,  although  exaggerated,  contained  much  truth.  The 
streets  were  crowded  with  hundreds  of  people,  mostly  on  foot, 
and  many  mounted.  The  windows  of  the  houses,  on  both  sides 
of  the  streets,  were  crowded  with  soldiers  of  the  i4th  Kentucky 
Infantry.  The  head  of  the  Regiment  marched  close  to  the  town 
and  halted,  and  the  Regiment  closed  up,  and  at  the  word  of  com- 
mand, dressed  into  line  of  battle.  Then  came  the  commands, 
"  Order  arms.  Load  at  will.  Load."  Cartridges  were  handled, 
and  torn,  and  charged;  rammers  were  drawn,  and  balls  rammed 
home;  and  the  jingling  steel  ramrods  returned,  and  gun-caps 
placed  on  the  nipples.  Another  command,  "Attention,  battalion. 
Order  arms.  Fix  bayonets."  The  rattling  bayonets  were  placed 
on  the  Enfields,  and  secured.  The  Colonel  then  said,  "  Soldiers 
of  the  Ninety-Second,  we  are  threatened  with  difficulty  in  passing 
through  this  town.  I  hope  there  will  not  be  any.  Listen  to  my 
orders.  You  will  march  in  silence.  No  word  must  be  spoken. 
If  you  are  spoken  to,  you  must  not  reply.  If  a  gun  is  fired  at 
you;  if  a  brickbat,  or  club,  or  stone  be  thrown  at  you, — do  not 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  45 

await  orders,  but  resent  it  at  once  with  bullet  and  bayonet.  To  be 
attacked  by  citizens  whose  homes  we  are  guarding,  and  by  sol- 
diers of  Kentucky  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  is  no  ordi- 
nary warfare;  we  cannot  meet  it  in  the  ordinary  way.  You 
must  not  fire  first;  but  if  fired  upon,  kill  every  human  being  in 
the  town,  and  burn  every  building."  A  shout  from  the  Regi- 
ment that  shook  the  houses,  told  that  the  men  understood  the 
orders,  and  would  obey  them.  All  was  again  silent.  A  squad  of 
mounted  Kentuckians,  who  had  rode  up  to  the  head  of  the  Regi- 
ment, and  listened  to  the  Colonel's  orders,  scattered  through  the 
town,  telling  the  crowd  what  the  Colonel's  orders  were.  The 
Colonel  commanded,  "  Attention,  battalion.  Shoulder  arms. 
Right  shoulder  shift  arms.  By  sections,  right  wheel.  Forward, 
march."  Away  the  Regiment  went.  A  soldier  writes  in  a  letter 
home,  "  Lieutenant  Hawk  had  charge  of  the  van-guard,  and  as 
he  came  sweeping  around  the  square,  with  his  fine,  soldierly  bear- 
ing, and  fight  in  his  eye,  the  cowards  fell  back,  putting  their 
pistols  under  their  coats,  knowing  full  well  that  it  was  useless  to 
say  fight  to  the  Ninety-Second."  The  Sheriff  of  the  county,  on 
horse-back,  rode  up  by  the  side  of  the  Colonel,  and  asked  if  he 
might  speak  to  him,  and  was  told  that  he  could.  He  then  served 
summons  upon  the  Colonel  in  several  suits  for  stealing  niggers. 
One  attempt  was  made  to  take  a  negro  servant  out  from  between 
the  sections  of  Company  E,  but  it  was  not  successful,  and  no 
other  molestation  was  experienced  in  Winchester.  Had  the  Regi- 
ment straggled  along  through  Winchester,  there  would  have  been 
trouble;  but  loaded  guns,  fixed  bayonets,  and  a  silent  march,  were 
things  not  counted  upon  bv  the  Kentuckians.  South-west  of  the 
town  about  a  mile,  the  Regiment  was  halted  at  the  side  of  the 
road  on  the  hill,  and  the  guns  were  emptied  into  the  woods,  the 
whole  Regiment  firing  at  the  word  of  command,  the  first  time, 
and  the  last  time,  that  the  Regiment  together  ever  heard  the 
command,  "  Ready,  aim,  fire."  It  was  said  that  the  camp  of  the 
i4th  Kentucky  was  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  in  the  direction  of  the 
firing;  but  it  was  concealed  bv  the  woods,  and  no  one  in  the 
Ninety-Second  knew  it.  The  rattling  bullets  from  the  Enfields 
did  no  harm,  for  the  camp  of.  the  I4th  Kentucky  was  deserted ; 
they  were  all  up  at  Winchester,  where  they  had  been  swelling  the 
ovation  given  by  the  "  loyal  Kentuckians"  to  the  Ninety-Second 
as  it  marched  along.  It  was  a  grand  thing  to  have  the  entire 
population  turn  out  and  give  the  Regiment  a  continual  ovation ; 
it  was  not  just  the  kind  of  an  ovation  that  would  have  pleased 


46  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

the  Regiment  best,  but  it  was  better  than  no  ovation.  Marched 
thirteen  miles,  and  went  into  camp  at  Pine  Grove.  The  rain  had 
ceased,  and  the  evening  was  beautiful.  Captain  Schermerhorn, 
always  ready  for  sport,  had  laid  a  large  barn-door  on  the  ground, 
and  was  superintending  a  dancing  match  between  a  lot  of  ne- 
groes. The  Captain  knew  how  to  pat  "Juba,"  and  knew  just 
where  to  put  in  encouraging  remarks,  like  "  Go  in,  Sambo,"  and 
"  Lay  right  down  to  it,  Caesar ;"  and  the  shouts  of  the  boys  enjoy- 
ing the  scene  soon  brought  the  entire  Regiment  out,  to  help  the 
sport  along.  It  was  a  merry  lot  of  men  that  formed  the  ring 
there,  in  the  moonlight,  around  the  barn-door  on  the  ground,  and 
laughed  and  shouted  at  the  dancing  of  the  darkies.  And  when 
they  had  wearied  of  that,  or  the  darkies  had  wearied,  they  called 
on  Major  Bohn  to  sing  a  comic  song.  The  blushing  Major  com- 
plied, and  sang  what  he  chose  to  call  the  Colonel's  favorite, 
commencing,  "Julie  am  a  handsome  gal,  her  heart  am  young 
and  tender."  Then  the  Colonel,  not  being  able  to  sing  a  song, 
gave  a  specimen  of  the  "  Mexican  double-shuffle,"  while  Captain 
Schermerhorn  patted  "Juba"  and  made  encouraging  remarks  to  the 
Colonel.  When  not  on  duty  the  men  and  officers  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  were  always  on  an  exact  equality.  Picket  posts  were  estab- 
lished, and  a  line  guard  put  around  the  Regiment,  and  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  night  an  attack  was  made  upon  the  picket  post  between 
Winchester  and  the  camp.  A  volley  was  fired  by  the  picket.  A 
white  woman  living  outside  of  the  picket  post,  said  there  was  a 
large  body  of  men  there  in  the  night,  and  after  the  firing,  pressed 
in  a  wagon  to  carry  their  wounded  back  toward  Winchester. 
The  Regiment  marched  at  daylight,  and  passed  again  through 
Lexington.  The  streets  were  crowded  with  people.  In  column 
of  sections,  the  Regiment  silently  marched  through  the  streets, 
with  colors  flying,  and  drum  corps  playing.  After  gaining  the 
hill  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  town,  the  Major  rode  up  to 
the  head  of  the  Regiment  and  informed  the  Colonel  that  there 
was  trouble  in  the  rear.  The  Colonel  rode  rapidly  back,  and 
found  company  A  surrounded  by  a  crowd  of  deputy  sheriffs, 
special  policemen,  and  cadaverous  looking  Kentuckians,  who 
had  attempted  to  take  a  negro  out  from  between  the  sections  of 
that  company.  The  Regiment  came  to  an  about  face,  and 
marchd  back  to  company  A.  The  Colonel  commanded  com- 
pany A  to  load  at  will,  and  the  ball  cartridges  soon  went  into 
the  guns.  The  Colonel  took  out  his  watch  and  told  the  crowd, 
"I  give  you  just  three  minutes  to  clear  these  streets;  if  you 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  47 

remain  that  long  these  streets  will  run  with  blood."  The 
crowd  exhibited  commendable  anxiety  in  getting  around  the 
street  corners  in  the  rear  of  the  Regiment,  and  out  of  sight. 
The  march  was  resumed,  and  the  Regiment  went  into  camp 
three  miles  south  of  Lexington.  Very  polite  attentions  were 
extended  to  the  Colonel.  General  Quincy  A.  Gilmore,  of  the 
United  States  Army,  commanding  a  Division  at  Lexington,  sent 
the  Colonel  an  invitation  to  dine  with  him — but  concluding  it 
was  a  ruse  to  get  him  into  the  hands  of  the  sheriff,  the  Colonel 
declined,  and  returned  an  invitation  to  the  General  to  ride  out  to 
camp  and  enjoy  a  little  hard-tack  and  coffee.  That  it  was  a  ruse 
was  soon  demonstrated,  for  General  Gilmore  immediately  sent  a 
peremptory  command  for  the  Colonel  to  report  at  his  Head- 
quarters in  Lexington;  but  his  aid-decamp  was  informed  by  the 
Colonel,  that  he  was  already  under  orders  to  report  to  General 
Baird,  his  own  Division  Commander,  at  Nicholasville,  and  if 
General  Gilmore  really  desired  to  see  him  he  must  ride  out  to  the 
camp  of  the  Ninety-Second.  The  Governor  of  Kentucky  also 
extended  his  polite  invitation  to  the  Colonel  to  dine  with  him  in 
Lexington,  but  the  Colonel  sent  word  to  the  Governor  to  ride 
out  to  the  camp  and  dine  with  him.  The  next  morning  the 
Sheriff  of  Lexington  brought  a  letter  from.  General  Gilmore  to 
the  Colonel,  written,  Gilmore  said,  at  the  request  of  the  Judge  of 
the  Court,  advising  the  Colonel  to  give  up  the  negroes  the  line 
officers  had  employed  as  servants,  as,  if  he  did  not,  he  would  be 
subject  to  very  severe  penalties  for  contempt  of  court.  But  the 
Colonel  stood  by  the  law  of  Congress  and  the  Proclamation  of 
President  Lincoln.  The  Colonel  ought  to  have  been  punished  for 
contempt ;  for  he  certainly  entertained  the  liveliest  contempt  for 
General  Gilmore,  and  the  Governor  of  Kentucky,  and  the 
Judges,  and  all  the  balance  of  the  Ketuckians  and  Regular  Army 
officers,  who  thought  more  of  the  institution  of  slavery  than  they 
did  of  their  country. 

On  the  nineteenth,  the  Regiment  trudged  along  in  the  rain 
nine  miles  to  Nicholasville,  and  went  into  camp.  On  the  twen- 
tieth, it  cleared  up,  and  the  camp  was  permanently  established. 
On  the  next  day,  Brigadier  General  Juda  inspected  the  Regiment, 
and  placed  it  first  for  drill,  discipline,  care  of  arms,  and  cleanli- 
ness of  camp.  General  Juda  was  a  fussy  old  gentleman,  but  a 
very  thorough  Inspector  General.  The  Colonel  received  the 
following  communication  from  General  Baird,  commanding  the 
Division: 


48  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  3d  DIVISION,  ARMY  OF  KENTUCKY,  } 
NICHOLASVILLE,  KY.,  Nov.  2ist,  1862.      f 

"  COL.  SMITH  D.  ATKINS, 

Commanding  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Volunteers, 

'•'•Colonel:  It  having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  General 
Commanding,  that  during  the  time  you  were  stationed  at  Mt. 
Sterling,  Ky.,  and  subsequently,  while  upon  the  march  from 
thence  to  this  place,  grave  questions,  with  regard  to  the  rendition 
of  fugitive  slaves,  have  arisen;  and,  also,  that  upon  your  march, 
your  Regiment  was  subjected  to  insult  by  certain  members  of 
the  I4th  Kentucky  Volunteers,  combined  with  citizens  and 
others,  he  directs  that  you  furnish  a  full  and  complete  report  of 
all  that  transpired  relative  to  that  subject;  and  particularly,  as 
to  how  may  negroes  may,  at  that  time,  have  taken  refuge  in 
your  camp,  and  the  circumstances  connected  therewith.  You 
will  also  state,  in  your  report,  whether  you  delivered  over  any 
of  these  persons  to  their  claimants,  and  if  so,  under  whose 
orders,  and  what  circumstances. 

"  I  am,  Colonel,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

B.  H.  POLK, 
Capt.  and  A.  A.  A.  G." 

On  the  next  day  the  Colonel  replied  to  the  communication  of 
the  Commander  of  the  Division  as  follows: 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  y2d  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEERS,  / 
NICHOLASVILLE,  KY.,  Nov.  22,  1862.      \ 
"CAi'T.  B.  H.  POLK,  A.  A.  A.  G., 

"Sir:  In  compliance  with  your  communication  of  yesterday, 
I  have  the  honor  to  report: 

"That,  on  the  first  day  of  November,  inst,  Saturday,  I  arrived, 
with  my  Regiment,  at  Mt.  Sterling,  Ky.  On  the  road  several 
negroes  desired  to  accompany  mv  Regiment,  but  I  uniformly 
advised  them  not  to  do  so. 

"  I  had  scarcely  arrived  in  camp,  when  a  man  presented  an 
order  from  Colonel  Cochran,  of  the  14111  Ky.,  commanding  me 
to  deliver  up  a  fugitive  slave,  and,  finding  that  the  slave  had  got 
into  my  Regiment  on  the  road,  I  ordered  him  put  out  of  the 
lines,  which  was  done.  See  exhibit  'A.' 

"On  Sunday,  I  issued  General  Order  No.  i,  assuming  com- 
mand of  the  Post  of  Mt.  Sterling  and  vicinity.  Before  printing 
it  I  read  the  order  to  some  of  the  '  loyal '  citizens  of  Mt.  Sterling, 
which  order  did  not,  at  first,  contain  the  last  paragraph,  relative 


NINETY -S&^OND    ^LLINOIS.  49 

to  slaves.  While  reading  it  a  person  sought  me  out  and  pre- 
sented a  written  order  from  Colonel  Cochran,  commanding  me  to 
deliver  up  a  slave,  and  said  to  me  that  Colonel  Cochran  had 
directed  him  to  report  me  if  I  refused.  I  read  the  order,  and 
told  him  that  I  did  not  wish  to  harbor  the  slave  of  any  loyal 
man,  but  that  as  I  understood  the  law,  I  had  no  right  to  deliver . 
up  fugitive  slaves  by  taking  them  beyond  my  lines  under  guard, 
and  that  I  would  not,  even  under  that  written  order  of  Colonel 
Cochran,  hunt  up  any  slave  and  send  him  beyond  my  lines,  and 
within  the  lines  of  the  enemy;  that  I  was  in  command  of  Mt. 
Sterling  and  vicinity,  and  that  to  obey  that  order  I  might  have 
to  go  as  far  as  Abingdon,  Va.,  with  the  fugitive;  but  that  if  he 
was  a  '  loyal '  man,  and  his  slave  was  within  my  lines,  that  I 
presumed  that  no  opposition  would  be  made  by  any  one  if  he 
took  him.  The  man  claiming  the  fugitive,  and  the  others  whom 
I  had  before  supposed  to  be  '  loyal '  men,  seemed  greatly  gratified 
that  I  had  refused  to  give  up  a  fugitive  slave  upon  the  order 
of  Colonel  Cochran,  and  informed  me  that  the  matter  could  now 
be  settled,  making  -of  it  a  test  question;  and  told  me  that  all  the 
people  of  Montgomery  County,  Kentucky,  would  now  be  against 
me.  My  Regiment  was  stigmatised  as  '  nigger  thieves '  in  my 
hearing,  and  Illinoisans  declared  worse  enemies  of  Kentucky 
than  the  Rebels.  After  this  exciting  conversation,  I  added  the 
last  paragraph  to  my  General  Order  No.  I. 

"  At  this  time  I  am  very  certain  that  there  were  not  six  slaves 
within  my  Regimental  lines. 

"  I  cautioned  my  men  against  enticing  any  slave  within  my 
lines,  and  urged  upon  them  the  impolicy  of,  in  any  way,  inter- 
fering with  the  slaves  of  loyal  masters.  My  pickets  would,  how- 
ever, occasionally  bring  one  in,  all  of  whom  claimed  to  be  slaves 
of  Rebels,  and  seeking  protection.  On  receiving  Colonel 
Granger's  General  Order  No.  15,  dated  Nov.  4th,  I  ordered,  in 
compliance  with  that  order,  that  all  persons,  not  enlisted  men,  or 
regularly  employed,  to  be  put  out  of  my  camp,  and»one  colored 
person,  and  only  one,  was  put  out,  and  that  included  ALL  within 
my  Regimental  lines  at  that  time. 

"  Colonel  Cochran  sent  me  repeated  orders  upon  this  subject, 
(See  Exhibit  '  C.')  some  of  which  I  have  preserved,  and  some 
of  which  I  have  lost,  but  none  of  which  have  I  obeyed,  except 
the  first  one,  as  above  stated. 

"I  endeavored  to  adopt  a  conciliatory  course;  did  not  permit 


50  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

my  camp  to  be  filled  up  with  "  hangers-on,"  and  none  to  remain 
in  after  nightfall,  except  officers'  servants,  furnished  with  written 
certificates,  as  per  Army  Regulations,  and  trusted  that  time 
would  allay  the  excitement.  On  Sabbath,  the  8th,  my  camp  was 
filled  with  negroes,  sent  in  from  miles  around,  to  the  number  of 
five  to  eight  hundred,  in  violation  of  my  published  order;  and  the 
people  seemed  determined,  by  threatening  my  Regiment,  and 
sending  their  slaves  into  camp,  to  raise  the  question,  and  force  it  to 
a  violent  issue. 

41  When  people  came  to  my  camp  and  furnished  evidence  of 
their  loyalty,  and  any  of  my  line  officers  had  EMPLOYED  their 
slaves,  I  introduced  them  to  my  officers ;  and  in  every  instance 
where  their  loyalty  has  been  undoubted,  my  officers  have  refused 
to  longer  employ  their  slaves  as  servants,  and  they  have  been 
permitted  to  take  them.  I  uniformly  refused  to  "order''  my  offi- 
cers to  give  them  up;  and  I  have  as  uniformly  urged  them  not 
to  employ  slaves  of  loyal  men.  Tn  at  least  ten  instances,  where 
the  loyalty  of  the  persons  has  been  established  to  the  satisfaction 
of  my  officers,  they  have  refused  longer  to  employ  the  slaves, 
and  their  masters  have  been  permitted  to  take  them  away  quietly 
without  opposition. 

"  Two  days  before  I  was  relieved  of  the  command  of  the  post 
at  Mt.  Sterling,  the  citizens  informed  me  that  the  order  relieving 
me  had  been  made;  and  I  often  heard  that  the  i4th  Kentucky 
Infantry  would  join  with  the  mob  and  the  Rebels,  and  would 
"clean  out"  my  Regiment.  In  marching  through  Mt.  Sterling, 
no  violence  was  offered  but  once,  when  a  man  said  he  would  take 
a  negro  from  between  the  sections ;  and  I  commanded  my  men, 
that  if  he  did  so  to  bayonet  him.  One  or  two  people  standing  on 
the  sidewalk  drew  pistols,  but  none  were  fired.  All  along  the 
road,  1  was  told  that  at  Winchester  the  I4th  Kentucky  Infantry 
regiment  (Colonel  Cochran's),  with  the  mob,  would  take  every 
negro  out  of  my  Regiment,  or  kill  every  man  in  it.  When  at  the 
edge  of  the  town,  I  halted  my  command,  ordered  the  men  to  load 
and  fix  bayonets,  and  march  in  sections.  I  commanded  my 
Regiment  to  march  silently,  and  in  order,  and  under  no  circum- 
stances to  provoke  an  attack,  or  to  answer  any  insulting  remark 
or  questions;  but  if  fired  upon  by  any  one,  or  if  stones  or  clubs 
were  thrown,  to  fire  in  self-defense.  The  town  was  full  of  peo- 
ple and  soldiers,  the  sidewalks  lined  on  both  sides,  many  armed 
with  side  arms,  and,  I  am  fully  convinced,  intended  an  attack, 
but  were  intimidated  by  my  bayonets  and  loaded  guns.  Only 


NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  51 

one  disturbance  occurred,  which  is  fully  narrated  in  exhibit  "  D," 
to  which  I  beg  to  refer. 

"  That  night,  while  encamped  at  Pine  Grove,  west  of  Winches- 
ter, Lieutenant  B.  F.  Sheets,  of  ist  Battalion,  Kentucky  Cavalry, 
and  an  officer  of  the  i4th  Kentucky,  came  to  the  guard ;  but,  as  I 
then  knew  of  their  actions  during  the  day,  as  stated  in  exhibit 
"  D,"  I  refused  to  admit  them,  but  received  from  them  a  written 
communication  signed  by  officers  of  the  I4th  Kentucky  Infantry, 
marked  exhibit  "  E,"  to  which  I  beg  to  refer. 

"  While  marching  through  Lexington,  Kentucky,  a  crowd, 
armed  with  revolvers  and  stones,  forcibly  made  an  attempt  to 
take  a  nego  from  between  two  of  the  sections  of  my  Regiment. 
I  was  at  once  notified,  and  rode  to  the  rear,  and  told  the  crowd 
that  if  the  attempt  was  again  made,  the  streets  of  Lexington 
would  run  with  blood,  as  we  could  and  would  defend  ourselves 
from  any  attack.  No  further  resistance  was  offered. 

"  The  next  morning,  the  Sheriff  of  Lexington,  Kentucky,came 
to  my  camp  and  desired  to  serve  papers  on  me  in  civil  suits,  to 
which  I  made  no  resistance;  and  he  left  divers  chancery  sum- 
mons and  orders  of  court  with  me,  one  of  each  of  which  I  inclose 
as  a  specimen  of  all  the  others,  marked  exhibit  "  F." 

"  I  was  also  complimented  by  a  large  batch  of  similar  docu- 
ments at  Winchester,  Kentucky.  The  Sheriff  of  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  also  brought  me  a  letter  from  Brigadier  General  Q. 
A.  Gilmore,  written,  he  said,  at  the  request  of  the  Judge  of  the 
Court,  advising  me  to  obey  the  summons  and  court  orders,  as, 
otherwise,  I  would  be  liable  to  severe  punishment  for  contempt. 
I  replied  to  him,  that  I  was  busy  with  the  Rebellion,  expecting 
soon  to  meet  the  enemy,  and  could  not  stop  to  hunt  up  negroes, 
or  formally  answer  bills  in  chancery,  or  orders  of  court,  but 
would  be  happy  to  spread  upon  the  records  of  the  court  a  com- 
plete defense  after  the  war  was  over. 

"  Three  colored  persons  have  been  taken  from  my  camp,  upon 
warrants  charging  them  with  crime — all  that  have  been  so 
claimed. 

"  There  are  yet  fifteen  men  employed  as  servants  by  the  com- 
missioned officers  of  mv  Regiment,  some  of  whom  I  know  to 
have  been  formerly  the  slaves  of  Rebels.  There  are  none  in  my 
camp  that  are  not  so  regularly  employed  as  officers'  servants. 

"  Countless  rumors,  to  which  I  am  unable  to  give  any  definite 
form,  have  come  to  my  ears,  like  these  :  '  The  Kentucky  troops 
would  annihilate  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois.'  '  The  Governor  of 


52  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

Kentucky  would  call  out  the  militia,  to  suppress  the  Ninetv- 
Second  Illinois.'  '  That  the  jails  of  Kentucky  would  be  filled  by 
the  nigger  thieves  from  Illinois,'  &c. ;  all  calculated  to  produce 
excitement  and  collision,  and  evincing  a  determination,  on  the 
part  of  Kentucky  soldiers  and  citizens,  to  force  the  question  to  a 
bloody  issue. 

"I  have  the  honor  to  be,  Captain,  very  respectfully,  your 
obedient  servant,  SMITH  D.  ATKINS, 

"  Colonel  92d  Illinois  Volunteers." 

EXHIBIT  "  A." 

"  FAYETTEVILLE  COUNTY,  KENTUCKY,  j 
November  ist,  1862.      ) 
"  Colonels  Cochran  and  Atkins : 

"Gentlemen:  My  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Graves,  informs  me 
that  one  of  his  servants  has  left,  and  may  be  following  your  com- 
mand. Mr.  Graves  has  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble  during  the 
Rebel  raid,  they  having  taken  sixty  odd  of  his  cattle,  and  one  of 
his  best  horses.  I  feel  satisfied  that  Mr.  Graves  has  not  aided  the 
Rebellion ;  he  is  a  pacifier  man,  stays  at  home  attending  to  his 
farm.  You  will  confer  a  special  favor  on  me,  by  granting  any 
aid  Mr.  Graves  asks  in  regaining  his  servant,  which  may  be  com- 
patible with  your  stations. 

"  Very  Respectfully  Yours, 

"  HOWARD  SHAFFER, 
"JACOB  HOUGHS." 

"  WINCHESTER,  KY.,  Nov.  ist,  1862. 

"  Colonel  ATKINS,  Comd'g  g2d  Illinois  Volunteers : 

"  I  am  satisfied,  by  the  statement  of  the  above  gentlemen,  as 
well  as  other  evidence  I  have,  that  Mr.  Graves  is  a  loyal  citizen. 
He  informs  me  that  he  has  a  Boy  within  your  lines ;  if  so,  have 
him  put  outside  of  the  lines.  Yours  Truly, 

"  J.  C.  COCHRAN, 
"  Col.  Comd'g  Demi-Brigade." 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  920  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEERS,         j 

CAMP  DICK  YATES,  MT.  STERLING,  KY.,      > 

November  ist,  1862.  ) 

"  The  within  named  servant  has  been  taken  without  the  lines, 
by  order  of  S.  D.  Atkins,  Col.  92d  111.  Vol. 

"  JOHN  H.  BOHN, 
"  Major  92d  Reg.  111.  Vol." 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  53 

EXHIBIT    "C." 

"  WINCHESTER,  Nov.  ist,  1862. 
"  Colonel  ATKINS,  Comd'g  92d  111.  Vol.: 

"Sir:  Mr.  James  Ballurd  informs  me  he  has  a  Boy  within 
your  lines.  He  is  reported  by  the  Union  men  here  as  being  a 
good  Union  man.  He  has  in  his  possession  a  pass  from  the  Pro- 
vost Marshal  of  this  place  to  that  effect.  If  his  Boy  is  inside  of 
your  lines,  have  him  put  outside. 

"  Yours  Truly,  J.  C.  COCHRAN, 

"  Col.  Comd'g  Demi-Brigade  " 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  DEMI-BRIGADE,          } 
WINCHESTER,  Nov.  ist,  1862.  f 

"Colonel  ATKINS,  Comd'g  p2d  111.  Reg.  Vol. : 

"  Hiram  Barclay,  an  undoubted  Union  man,  of  this  county, 
has  a  Boy  within  your  lines.  You  will  cause  him  to  be  put  out- 
side of  vour  lines,  agreeably  to  General  Gilmore's  General 
Order.  J.  C.  COCHRAN, 

"  Col.  Comd'g  Demi-Brigade." 

EXHIBIT  "  D." 

"  Nov.  1 7th,  1862. 

"  The  92d  Ills.  Vols.,  in  marching  from  Mt.  Sterling,  Ky.,  to 
Nicholasville,  passed  through  Winchester,  by  sections,  and  had 
command  of  the  second  section  of  Co.  E;  and  as  I  gave  the  com- 
mand, '  Right  wheel,'  three  men  came  in  on  the  right,  and  one  of 
them,  who  said  he  was  a  Lieutenant  in  the  i4th  Ky.,  (I  think  he 
said  the  i4th  Kentucky,)  came  into  my  section,  and  said  to  a 
negro  marching  near  me,  '  Come  out  of  there,  you thick- 
lipped  son  of  a .'  I  brought  my  gun  to  the  position  of 

'  charge  bayonet,'  and  told  him  that  I  had  command  of  that  sec- 
tion, and  would  not  be  interrupted  by  any  man.  He  asked  me  if 

I  intended  to  defeYid  the nigger.     I  told  him  I  did.     He 

said,  '  I  have  come  for  him,  and  will  have  him  or  die.  The* 
Ninety-Second  is  good  for  nothing  but  to  steal  niggers.  I  am  an 
officer  in  the  Union  Army;  that  nigger  belongs  to  a  Union  man, 

and  we  will  have  him,  if  we  follow  the  Regiment  to .'     I 

then  said,  '  Get  out  of  this  section,  or  I  will  run  you  through 
with  my  bayonet.'  He  stepped  out  to  the  right  of  the  section, 
and  drew  his  revolver ;  each  of  the  others  also  drew  revolvers, 


54  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

and   he   said,   'I    will   shoot   the cuss.'     (I  do   not   know 

whether  he  meant  me  or  the  negro.)  I  told  them  that  if  they 
leveled  or  cocked  their  revolvers,  they  would  be  dead  men,  and 
they  had  better  put  them  up,  and  that  if  they  did  not,  I  would 
order  my  section  to  charge.  They  then  put  up  their  pistols,  and 
the  Lieutenant  of  the  i4th  Kentucky  said,  '  If  you  don't  give  up 
that  Boy,  I  will  go  to  my  regiment,  and  bring  it  up,  and  clean 

your Regiment  out.'     I  told  him  that  we  were  ready  at 

any  moment.  He  said,  'Are  you  going  to  give  him  up  or  not?' 
I  said,  '  Never.'  He  said,  '  Do  you  claim  him  ?'  I  said,  '  No, 
the  Second  Lieutenant  has  hired  him,  and  if  you  want  to  ask  any 
more  questions,  go  to  the  Colonel.'  For  I  had  disobeyed  my 
orders  for  the  first  time,  by  answering  him  a  question.  He  said, 
'  It  will  do  no  good  to  go  to  him,  for  he  is  as  big  a  thief  as  the 
rest  of  you,  and  he  will  give  me  no  satisfaction ;  but  I  will  go  and 

see  the cuss.'     And  he  went  off,  and  when  he  came  back, 

he  said,  '  The  Colonel  says  I  can  take  him.'  I  said,  '  You  can,  if 
you  have  force  enough.'  He  started  back  toward  town,  after  fol- 
lowing ijs  about  a  mile,  and  said  as  he  left,  '  You  may  look  for  a 
warm  time.'  I  told  him,  '  That  is  just  what  we  came  for.'  This 
is  a  true  statement  of  the  conversation  I  had  with  the  Lieutenant 
of  the  I4th  Kentucky,  and  I  am  willing  to  testify  to  it  at  any 
time. 

,  "JAMES  O'KANE, 

"  Orderly  Sergeant  Co.  E,  Q2d  111.  Vol." 

EXHIBIT  "  E." 

"  WINCHESTER,  KY.,  Nov.  lyth,  1862. 

"  Colonel  ATKINS,  Comd'g  g2d  111.  Vol. : 

"  Dear  Sir :  There  are  several  negroes  within  your  lines. 
The  fact  of  their  being  so  is  causing  intense  excitement,  and 
wounding  the  feelings  of  men  who  are  unswerving  in  their  loy- 
alty and  patriotism  to  our  common  cause.  You  have  slaves 
with  you  that  belong  to  men  who  have  had  all  their  stock  and 
what  property  could  be  moved,  taken  from  them  by  the  Rebels. 
*They  think  this  Government  they  support  should  protect  them 
in  their  rights  and  property.  If  the  negro  is  to  be  freed,  let  it  be 
done  by  the  National  Legislatures.  If  we  understand  the  policy 
of  the  General  Government,  it  is  not  proposed  to  take  the  slaves 
of  either  Rebels  or  loyal  citizens  without  some  formality  of  law. 
The  fact  of  your  taking  the  slaves  you  have  with  you  off,  only 
confirms  the  charges  made  by  the  Rebels,  that  we  would  deprive 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  55 

the  citizens  of  their  slave  property.     For  the  good  of  our  com- 
mon cause,  we  expect  you  to  turn  them  out  of  your  lines. 

"  Yours  Respectfully, 

"  GEORGE  W.  GALLUPP,  Lt.  Col.  i^h  Ky. 

"  R.  M.  THOMAS,  Capt.  i4th  Ky. 

"J.  C.  COLLINS,  Capt.  i4th  Ky. 

"  JAMES  H.  DAVIDSON,  Capt.  i4th  Ky. 

"  H.  G.  GARDNER,  Capt.  Co.  I,  i4th  Ky. 

"  J.  B.  BUCHANAN,  Capt.  ist  Batt,  Ky. 

"  D.  L.  COOK,  Lt.  Co.  A,  ist  Batt.,  Ky. 

"  B.  F.  SHEETS,  Lieut. 

"  ISAAC  TAYLOR,  Lieut." 

"  WINCHESTER,  KY.,  Nov.  17,  1862. 

"  COL.  ATKINS  :  You  are  a  stranger  to  me,  but  I  like  you  for 
your  cause.  I  have  labored  in  it,  and  suffered  for  it.  I  am  not 
negro  crazy.  The  course  of  some  of  your  Regiment,  in  regard 
to  slaves,  has  done  us  much  harm,  and,  if  persisted  in,  will  do 
more.  You  will  personally  get  yourself  into  danger,  all  of  which 
I  greatly  regret.  Just  turn  the  slaves  out  of  your  camp— don't 
give  them  up  to  any  one — but  turn  them  out.  I  ask  this  for  the 
sake  of  the  cause.  I  have  no  interest  in  it  beyond  the  purposes 
expressed.  You  may  find  out  who  I  am,  if  desired  to,  from  any 
one.  Yours,  &c.,  JOHN  B.  HUSTON." 

EXHIBIT  "  F." 

"(SUMMONS  EXTRAORDINARY.) 

"  THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  KENTUCKY. 
"  To  the  Sheriff  of  Fayette  County — Greeting  : 

"  You  are  commanded  to  summon  Smith  D.  Atkins  to  an- 
swer on  the  'first  day  of  the  next  February  term  of  the  Fayette 
Circuit  Court,  a  petition  filed  against  him  in  said  Court  by  Wil- 
liam Hickman,  and  warn  him  that,  upon  his  failure  to  answer, 
the  petition  will  be  taken  for  confessed,  or  he  will  be  proceeded 
against  for  contempt,  and  you  will  make  due  return  of  this  sum- 
mons, on  the  first  day  of  the  next  February  term  of  this  Court. 

"  Witness,  JOHN  B.  NORTON,  Clerk  of  said  Court,  this  iSthday 
of  November,  1862. 

"  Att. :  JOHN  B.  NORTON,  C.  F.  C.  C." 


56  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

"  (ORDER  FOR  DELIVERY  OF  PROPERTY.) 

"  (Section  231.) 

"  WILLIAM  HICKMAN,  Plaintiff,  ) 

against  [  ORDER  OF  DELIVERY. 

SMITH  D.  ATKINS,  Defendant.        ) 

"  THE  COMMONWEALTH  OF  KENTUCKY. 

"  To  the  Sheriff  of  Fayette  County  :  You  are  commanded  to 
take  the  slave  Sylvester,  about  38  years  old,  and  of  black  com- 
plexion, and  of  the  value  of  Five  Hundred  Dollars,  from  the 
possession  of  the  Defendant,  Smith  D.  Atkins,  and  deliver  him 
to  the  Plaintiff,  William  Hickman,  upon  his  giving  the  Bond 
required  by  law;  and  you  will  make  due  return  of  this  Order  on 
the  first  day  of  the  next  February  Term  of  the  Fayette  Circuit 
Court. 

"  Witness,  JOHN  B.  NORTON,  Clerk  of  said  Court,  this  i8th 
day  of  November,  1862. 

"  JOHN  B.  NORTON,  C.  F.  C.  C." 

It  may  be  mentioned  that  the  Sheriff  did  not  find  the  slave 
"  Sylvester"  in  the  possession  of  the  Colonel ;  and  whether  the 
Court  took  the  petition  for  "  confessed,"  or  proceeded  against  the 
Colonel  for  "  contempt,"  has  never  been  known  to  any  member 
of  the  Ninety-Second.  An  examination  of  these  exhibits  reveals 
the  usual  Kentucky  swagger ;  first,  attempting  to  intimidate,  and 
afterward  tan  argumentative  communication  in  writing.  And 
Mr.  Huston,  who  liked  the  Colonel  for  his  cause,  could  not  write 
him  a  letter  without  intimating  to  the  Colonel  that  he  was  per- 
sonally in  danger. 

On  Sunday,  the  twenty-third  of  November,  all  the  regiments 
in  General  Baird's  division  were  inspected  and  reviewed  by 
General  Baird.  On  the  twenty-sixth,  the  Regiment  took  up  its 
line  of  march,  in  a  snow-storm,  for  Danville,  and,  after  marching 
seven  miles,  went  into  camp.  It  is  a  necessary  rule  in  army  life, 
that  at  "  taps"  every  light  be  extinguished  in  the  men's  quarters, 
and  perfect  silence  be  maintained  until  "  reveille"  breaks  the 
stillness.  In  an  army  of  forty  thousand  men,  dead  silence  is 
maintained,  save  the  foot-fall  of  the  line  guards.  On  this  night, 
some  of  the  soldiers  were  hilarious  after  "  taps,"  but  their  prompt 
arrest  was  the  result.  The  march  was  resumed  at  daylight,  and 
the  broad  pike  road  wound  around  among  the  hills  bordering  the 
Kentucky  River,  passing  through  the  ancient  hunting  grounds  of 
Daniel  Boone,  the  famous  Kentucky  back-woodsman.  A  soldier 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  57 

writes  of  this  day's  march:  "  At  the  Kentucky  River,  some  of 
the  Western  boys  got  a  fair  sight  of  mountain  scenery  for  the 
first  time  in  their  lives,  and  stood  aghast,  looking  down  over  per- 
pendicular rocks  for  hundreds  of  feet  below,  over  and  through 
which  the  pike  is  cut,  while  upon  the  opposite  side  of  the  road  it 
was  equally  as  wild ;  and  looming  high  up  in  the  air  stood  the 
sturdy  pines  and  gentle  cedars.  For  miles  on  this  march,  our 
minds  were  relieved  of  the  dull  monotony  of  the  '  route-step.' 
Now  we  pass  a  great,  high,  cone-shaped  mountain,  around  the 
base  of  which  we  wind,  until  we  have  made  two-thirds  of  its 
circle.  This  mountain  is  celebrated  as  the  place  where  Daniel 
Boone  tossed  a  '  Red-skin'  heels  over  head  off  from  the  cliffs 
into  the  great  abyss  below.  Daniel  did  a  good  thing  that  time, 
for  which  we  will  remember  him.  Pity  that  Daniel  don't  live 
now  to  try  his  hand  on  a  few  of  the  Rebels  who  still  infest  these 
hills.  If  the  Rebels  desired,  or,  rather,  if  they  had  the  '  vim,' 
our  passage  could  have  been  disputed  here  for  months,  but  they 
'  don't  stay  about  as  thick  as  they  used  to.'  "  Camp  Dick  Rob- 
inson was  the  next  point  of  interest.  Here  we  found  the  first  sad 
havoc  of  war.  The  fences  were  gone,  timber  cut,  houses  de- 
serted, and  everything  in  confusion.  The  Rebels,  in  their  flight, 
left  several  pieces  of  artillery,  all  dismounted  but  one  fine,  brass, 
Spanish  six-pounder,  which  the  Ninety-Second  took  charge  of. 
There  were  fifteen  hundred  stand  of  small  arms,  badly  smashed 
and  cut  into  pieces;  one  thousand  five  hundred  barrels  of  salt 
pork,  and  many  tents,  and  other  things.  Captain  Dennis,  with 
Company  B,  was  detailed  to  take  charge  of  the  plunder.  The 
Regiment  pushed  on  through  Danville  to  the  Fair  Grounds  be- 
yond. Here  was  found  a  guard  of  the  o/jth  Illinois  Volunteers, 
holding  the  grounds  for  a  camp  for  that  regiment.  The  Colonel 
marched  the  Ninety  Second  in,  and  placed  the  men  in  one  half 
of  the  buildings  and  stables,  reserving  the  other  half  for  the  96th, 
and  invited  the  officers  of  that  regiment  to  share  with  him  his 
head-quarters  in  the  principal  building.  It  was  the  first  time  the 
regiments  had  met  since  the  difficulty  at  Rockford ;  but  the  thought- 
ful courtesy  of  the  Colonel  healed  the  breach,  and  it  was  never 
mentioned  again  by  officer  or  soldier.  The  next  day,  both  regi- 
men's moved  nearer  the  town,  and  camped  side  bv  side.  A  sol- 
dier, writing  from  camp,  says:  "  Danville  is  the  prettiest  place 
we  have  seen  in  Kentucky.  It  is  famous  for  its  churches,  semi- 
naries, and  asylums,  as  well  as  for  being  the  residence  of  the 
celebrated  Divine,  Dr.  Robert  J.  Breckenridge,  General  Boyle, 
7 


58  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS, 

and  Colonel  Frey ;  the  latter  being  the  individual  who,  through 
his  carelessness  in  handling  a  pistol,  took  the  wind  out  of  the 
Rebel  General  Zollicoffer  at  Mill  Spring.  There  is  a  strong 
Union  sentiment  here — plenty  of"  pretty  Union  girls,  who  are 
polite  and  hospitable  to  the  '  Yanks,'  and  the  town  is  full  of 
Union  wounded  soldiers  from  the  battle  of  Perryville,  nearly  all 
the  churches  being  occupied  as  hospitals.  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Sheets  is  commanding  the  Regiment,  Colonel  Atkins  being  in 
command  of  the  Post,  having,  as  a  garrison,  the  Ninety-Second 
Illinois,  the  96th  Illinois,  and  six  hundred  cavalry."  Very  strin- 
gent orders  relating  to  guard  duty  were  issued.  Captain  Albert 
Woodcock,  of  Company  K,  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Volunteers, 
was  detailed  as  Provost  Marshal.  A  Kentucky  lady  came  into 
his  head-quarters,  and  desired  a  pass  for  her  servants  to  go  outside 
of  the  lines  to  obtain  fuel.  The  Captain  told  her  it  would  be 
necessary  for  her  first  to  take  the  Oath  of  Allegiance.  She  in- 
dignantly declined,  and  swept  out  of  the  Captain's  presence  very 
haughtily.  A  day  or  two  afterward,  she  came  again,  saying  she 
was  nearly  out  of  fuel,  and  would  take  the  oath,  but  that  she  was 
a  Rebel,  and  would  not  regard  it.  "  Madam,"  said  the  Captain, 
in  his  solemnly  impressive  tone,  "  1  cannot  administer  the  oath 
to  vou.  According  to  your  own  statement,  you  would  be  com- 
mitting perjury.  I  cannot  permit  so  fine  a  lady  to  commit  per- 
jury in  my  presence,  and  imperil  her  immortal  soul."  The 
Captain's  impressive  tone,  stern  morality,  and  unanswerable 
logic,  astonished  the  Kentucky  matron,  and  she  withdrew  in  con- 
sternation. A  few  days  afterward  she  again  appeared,  contrite 
and  in  tears,  and  declared  she  was  freezing  for  want  of  fuel.  The 
Captain  explained  the  Oath  of  Allegiance  to  her,  and  said  that,  if 
she  took  it  at  all,  it  must  be  of  her  own  free  will,  without  evasion 
or  mental  reservation,  when  she  subscribed  her  name,  and  swore 
by  "  the  ever-living  God"  to  maintain  her  allegiance  to  the  United 
States.  On  another  occasion,  an  old,  gray-haired,  colored  man 
applied  to  Captain  Woodcock  for  a  pass;  but  the  Captain  had  pre- 
viously been  informed  that  the  colored  man  himself  was  a 
slaveholder  and  a  Rebel.  He  was  a  free  negro,  and  free  negroes 
sometimes  owned  slaves  in  Kentucky.  So  the  Captain  told  *him 
that  he  must  first  establish  his  loyalty.  The  old,  colored  man 
took  off  his  hat,  and  took  out  a  copy  of  the  New  York  Tribune, 
and  said:  "For  twelve  years  I  have  been  a  subscriber  to  that 
paper.  Would  any  but  a  loyal  man  take  the  New  York  Tri- 
bune?" The  Captain  was  convinced  of  his  loyalty;  and  the  old. 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  59 

gray-haired  subscriber  to  the  New  York  Tribune  obtained  the 
desired  pass.  The  weather  was  very  cold  and  changeable,  alter- 
nating rapidly  between  snow,  rain,  and  sunshine,  and  the  morning 
sick  call  brought  crowds  upon  crowds  to  the  surgeons.  One  of 
the  large  seminary  buildings  in  the  town  was  taken  as  a  regi- 
mental hospital,and  every  attention  bestowed  upon  the  sick  that  was 
possible;  but  deaths  were  frequent.  Colonel  Sheets  drilled  the 
Regiment  whenever  the  weather  would  permit  of  it ;  and  one  of 
the  soldiers,  in  his  diary,  writes :  "  He  is  getting  to  be  a  splendid 
drill-master."  On  the  seventh  of  December,  it  was  so  cold  that 
ice  was  frozen  on  the  creek  so  solid  that  nearly  all  the  Regi- 
ment went  sliding,  with  merry  shouts,  like  a  district  school  let 
out.  One  of  the  boys'  diaries  says,  "  But  it  is  rather  cold  lying 
on  the  ground,  with  a  little  straw  for  a  bed,  and  a  slimpsy  army 

blanket  for  a  cover,  and  one  thickness  of  cotton  cloth  for  a  house." 

- 

It  was  Sabbath;  and  at  two  o'clock  P.  M.,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Robert  J. 
Breckenridge  preached  a  sermon  on  the  camp  ground.  The 
ninth  was  a  beautiful  day,  and  hundreds  of  ladies  and  gentlemen 
visited  the  camp  at  dress  parade.  On  the  tenth,  a  slave  auction 
was  held  near  the  camp,  and  five  slaves  were  sold  under  the  ham- 
mer, a  very  strange  sight  to  most  of  the  men.  On  the  eleventh, 
two  more  regiments  of  infantry  arrived ;  and  on  the  thirteenth, 
two  more  regiments  of  infantry  and  a  battery  arrived,  accompa- 
nied by  General  Baird,  who  assumed  command  of  the  Post.  On 
Sunday,  the  fourteenth,  a  negro  preacher  held  services  on  the 
camp  grounds.  In  the  afternoon,  Company  I  was  marching 
through  the  town,  accompanying  to  its  last  resting-place  the  re- 
mains of  one  of  their  comrades,  when  a  bevy  of  SeCesh  women 
made  insulting  remarks  as  the  funeral  cortege  passed.  It  was 
reported  to  General  Baird,  who  promptly  turned  the  family  into 
the  street,  and  bccupied  their  residence  as  his  head-quarters.  A 
storm  of  sleet  and  snow  set  in,  and  continued  for  several  days. 
The  men  resorted  to  all  sorts  of  contrivances  to  make  their  cot- 
ton houses  comfortable.  A  favorite  plan  was  to  remove  the  earth 
from  the  inside  of  the  tent  to  the  depth  of  three  feet,  piling  the 
removed  earth  around  the  tent  on  the  outside;  a  fire-place  was 
tht-n  constructed  in  the  earth  wall,  just  bevond  the  line  of  the 
tent,  and  on  the  earth  outside  a  rude  chimney  was  constructed  of 
empty  barrels  or  cracker  boxes  reaching  above  the  top  of  the  tent; 
they  were  constructed  with  great  skill,  and  usually  had  a  good 
draft,  and  a  cheerful  fire  blazed  and  crackled  in  the  earthen  fire- 
places. It  was  a  pleasing  sight  to  step  down  into  one  of  the  tents 


60  NINRTT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

in  the  evening,  room  enough  to  stand  erect,  arms,  and  belts,  and 
cartridge  boxes,  on  racks  around  the  center  pole,  the  floor  covered 
with  clean  straw,  the  cheerful  fire  blazing,  and  the  men  laying 
around  on  their  blankets',  with  bayonets  stuck  into  the  ground  for 
candle-sticks;  some  of  the  men  reading,  some  writing  letters 
home,  some  playing  chess,  or  backgammon,  or  whist.  But  it  was 
fatal  to  health.  The  men  were  packed  in  the  tents  like  herrings 
in  a  box.  At  night,  when  the  tent  flap  was  closed,  and  the  fire 
had  gone  out,  the  warm,  ascending  breath  from  the  sleeping  sol- 
diers struck  the  ice-cold  cotton  cloth,  wet  with  dew  and  perfectly 
air-tight,  and  back  to  the  bottom  of  the  tent  would  go  the  car- 
bonic acid  to  be  breathed  over  and  over  again,  and  poison  the 
sleepers  with  disease.  The  Colonel,  directed  the  openings  in  the 
top  of  the  tents  to  be  always  kept  open,  in  order  to  give  ventila- 
tion ;  but  that  made  the  tent  cold,  and  the  soldiers  would  close 
them  up,  and  shut  off  every  chance  of  fresh  air.  Removing  the 
earth  and  lowering  the  bottom  of  the  tents  were  prohibited  in 
orders,  but  not  in  fact.  Wood  was  brought  from  the  wood-lots  in 
the  surrounding  country.  Lieutenant  Cox  was  detailed  to  go  out 
some  six  miles  on  the  Stanford  pike,  with  fifteen  army  wagons 
and  a  squad  of  men,  to  chop  wood.  He  was  told  that  he  would 
find  a  large  house  on  the  right  of  the  pike,  with  a  large  gate  cov- 
ered bv  an  arch,  and  to  turn  in  there.  He  was  not,  as  he  ought 
to  have  been,  particularly  instructed  to  go  to  the  wood-lot  a  half 
mile  in  rear  of  the  house.  He  found  the  gate  and  turned  in,  and 
his  wood-choppers  fell  to  work  cutting  down  the  beautiful  oaks 
adorning  the  lawn  in  front  of  the  mansion.  The  matron  was 
amazed  to  see  her  lawn  trees  fall  before  the  axes  of  the  Yankee 
vandals,  and  hastily  despatched  a  servant  to  inform  the  Colonel, 
and  beg  him  to  take  wood  from  the  woods,  and  not  from  the 
door-yard.  Orders  were  sent  to  the  Lieutenant,  but  they  reached 
him  too  late;  his  wagons  were  loaded  with  wood  from  the  finest 
shade  trees  on  the  lawn.  It  was  an  accident;  but  as  the  owner 
was  supposed  to  be  a  Rebel,  no  one  seriously  mourned  over  it. 
On  the  twenty-fourth,  Captain  Dunham,  of  Company  F,  topo- 
graphical officer  on  General  Baird's  staff,  was  out  examining  and 
mapping  the  country,  with  a  party  of  six  men,  and  they  were 
fired  upon  by  a  squad  of  roving  Johnnies.  Christmas  was  cele- 
brated by  a  cessation  of  all  ordinary  camp  duties;  many  of  the 
officers  and  men  were  invited  out  to  dine  by  the  Union  ladies  of 
Danville.  Rank  never  counted  for  anything  in  the  Ninety- 
" Second,  except  on  duty.  A  single  company  had  twenty  mem- 


NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  61 

bers  who  were  graduates  of  high  institutions  of  learning.  Many 
private  soldiers  of  the  Regiment  had  polished  manners  in  the 
drawing-room,  and  could  hold  their  own  in  conversation  with  the 
best  blue  bloods  of  Kentucky.  They  were  always  welcome  to 
the  residence  of  the  Reverend  Doctor  Breckenridge,  and  he  never 
took  any  note  of  rank  in  his  visitors.  Many  of  the  members  of 
the  Regiment  were  members,  of  churches,  in  regular  standing  at 
home,  and  they  especially  were  welcomed  heartily  in  their  calls 
on  Dr.  Breckenridge.  They  did  not  leave  their  religion  at  home 
when  they  went  into  the  army;  they  "kept  the  faith,"  and,  by  the 
example  of  their  daily  walk  and  conversation,  testified  to  the 
beauty  of  true  Christianity.  The  afternoon1  was  celebrated  in 
camp  by  a  grand  game  of  town-ball.  It  rained  during  the  night. 
The  next  morning,  the  entire  command  at  Danville,  under 
the  command  of  General  Gordon  Granger,  who  had  come  from 
Lexington  to  win  glory,  started  on  the  tramp  after  John  Morgan's 
dashing  Rebel  rovers,  who  were  supposed  to  be  marching  on 
Lebanon.  The  Regiment  marched  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing on  the  Lebanon  pike  ;  the  cold,  winter  rain  poured  in  torrents  ; 
John  Morgan  and  his  Rebel  raiders  were  mounted  on  fleet  steeds, 
and  so  was  General  Gordon  Granger  and  his  gorgeous  staff  ;  on 
and  on  through  the  pouring  rain  the  division  marched,  with  never 
a  halt  for  rest,  and  the  Ninety-Second  kept  its  place  in  the  col- 
umn. Eight  o'clock,  nine  o'clock,  ten  o'clock,  eleven  o'clock, 
twelve  o'clock,  and  one  o'clock  passed,  and  no  halt  for  breath; 
the  weak  men  were  falling  down  by  sheer  exhaustion  ;  the  ambu- 
lances already  overloaded,  and  the  column  kept  on,  leaving  the 
exhausted  men  by  the  roadside,  in  a  storm  of  rain  and  sleet  that 
froze  as  it  fell.  The  medical  officers  came  to  the  head  of  the 
Regiment,  and  begged  the  Colonel  to  halt  for  a  little  while,  to 
give  the  exhausted  men  a  chance  to  rally.  But  on  and  on  the 
Regiment  swept.  The  Colonel,  as  well  as  Gordon  Granger,  was 
on  horseback.  It  is  not  very  hard  work  to  ride  a  fine  horse, 
booted  and  spurred,  even  in  a  storm,  with  rubber  poncho  and 
leggins,  and  meerschaum  pipe.  That  is  the  way  the  Colonel  was 
fixed.  Again  and  again  the  medical  officers  begged  for  only  a 
short  halt,  just  a  breathing  spell,  but  the  Colonel  said,  "  - 


-  it,  I  have  no  order  to  halt."  Colonel  Cochran,  of  the  i4th 
Kentucky,  was  commanding  the  brigade;  his  regiment  were  old 
soldiers,  accustomed  to  the  march  ;  his  was  among  the  regiments 
that  garrisoned  Cumberland  Gap,  and  had  astonished  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Ninety-Second  when  they  came,  ragged  and  dust- 


62  NINBTT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

covered,  weary  and  foot-sore,  to  Covington,  Kentucky.  On  and 
on,  through  the  storm,  the  black  stallion  of  the  Colonel  kept  his 
course,  and  the  Regiment  tried  hard  to  keep  up.  Never  a  man 
fell  out  that  could  take  one  step  more.  But,  by  and  by,  in  the 
middle  of  the  afternoon,  when  the  Colonel,  by  some  sort  of  an 
accident,  happened  to  look  back,  and  see  how  few  of  his  Regi- 
ment were  staggering  along  behind  him,  he  ordered  a  halt. 
Never  was  a  Colonel  more  heartily  "  cussed,"  and  he  deserved  it 
too.  The  Army  Regulations  provide  for  frequent  rests  on  the 
march,  and  the  men  of  the  Ninety-Second  had  probably  read  the 
Army  Regulations  oftener  than  the  Colonel,  and  just  at  that  mo- 
ment they  would  have  liked  to  have  heard  the  Colonel  explain 
the  violation  of  the  United  States  Army  Regulations  on  that 
march.  But  the  word  "  halt"  was  no  sooner  called  than  a  staff 
officer  of  Colonel  Cochran  came  riding  back,  with  an  order  to  the 
Colonel  to  "  close  up."  If  the  Colonel  of  the  Ninety-Second 
ever  swore  at  anybody,  he  let  fly  a  few  hard  words  at  that  staff 
officer.  But  there  is  a  sort  of  impression  prevailing  among  some 
of  the  members  of  the  Ninety-Second,  confined  strictly  to  those 
who  always  were  in  hospital,  or  on  detached  duty,  and  who  never 
served  with  the  command,  that  the  Colonel  never  knew  how  to 
swear.  There  was  a  break  in  the  column.  After  a  short  rest, 
the  Ninety-Second  resumed  the  march.  After  that,  there  were 
occasional  breathing  spells.  It  was  almost  dark,  when  the  head  of 
the  Regiment  reached  the  brick  house  where  Colonel  Cochran 
and  General  Granger  had  established  head-quarters,  and  the 
Ninety-Second  was  ordered  into  a  plowed  field,  where  the  men 
sank,  at  every  step,  over  their  ankles,  in  the  mud;  and  just  as 
the  men  were  closing  up,  preparatory  to  the  order  to  stack  arms, 
Colonel  Cochran  came  out  of  the  house,  and  said  to  the  Colonel 
that  no  rails  must  be  burned,  the  wagons  must  be  unloaded,  and 
details  made  to  go  to  the  wood-lot,  a  mile  away,  on  the  hill,  and 
get  fuel.  The  balance  of  the  division  was  camped  all  around,  and 
not  a  fence  had  yet  been  touched.  The  Colonel  was  sitting  on 
his  horse,  and  as  the  Regiment  closed  up  and  stacked  arms,  while 
Colonel  Cochran  was  still  standing  in  hearing,  he  said :  "  Men 
of  the  Ninety-Second,  do  you  see  those  rail  fences?  Cook  your 
suppers  with  them."  There  was  silence  for  a  little  while ;  and 
Colonel  Cochran  said  to  the  Colonel,  "  This  farm  belongs  to  a 
Union  man;  I  shall  have  to  report  you  to  General  Granger." 
"All right;  tell  General  Granger  that  my  men  are  not  responsi- 
ble; I  assume  all  of  the  responsibility."  The  Ninety-Second 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  63 

"  went  for''  those  rails,  and  so  did  the  whole  division.  They  were 
only  waiting  for  an  example,  and  the  Ninety-Second  furnished  it; 
but  the  men  had  to  work  lively  to  get  rails  enough  to  cook  their 
suppers-.  The  Regiment  lav  encamped  not  far  from  Lebanon. 
At  twelve  o'clock,  the  Regiment  was  called  up,  with  orders  to 
push  out,  at  three  o'clock  A.  M.,  to  Lebanon,  in  advance  of  the 
division;  but  the  order  was  countermanded,  and  the  Regiment 
did  not  march  until  seven  A.  M.,  when  it  returned  to  Danville, 
with  the  balance  of  the  division.  When  the  Regiment  marched 
from  Danville,  the  barrels  and  cracker  boxes  used  for  chimneys, 
and  the  boards  for  tent  floors,  bunks,  and  walks  through  the 
grounds,  had  been  burned  up.  When  the  Regiment  camped  in 
Danville,  on  the  same  ground  they  had  left,  the  Colonel  formed 
the  line,  and  congratulated  the  men  of  the  Regiment  that  they 
had  .again  returned  to  their  old  camp,  and  the  boards,  cracker 
boxes,  barrels,  and  everything  else  they  had  gathered  with  so 
much  pains  to  make  camp-life  comfortable,  were  still  at  their  ser- 
vice. The  men  saw  the  point,  and  sorrowfully  went  into  camp, 
minus  straw,  barrels,  cracker-boxes,  board  floors,  bunks,  walks, 
and  everything  else  that  fire  could  consume.  The  next  morning, 
the  sick-call  took  nearly  all  the  Regiment  that  was  left.  Dr. 
Winston  had  charge  of  the  largest  building,  used  as  a  hospital  for 
the  Ninety-Second  at  Danville,  and  every  nook  and  corner  was 
filled,  after  this  senseless  and  heedless  march.  Never  did  physi- 
cians attend  the  sick  more  faithfully  than  did  Doctors 
Winston,  Helm,  and  Stephenson,  and  the  faithful  "  Daughters  of 
the  Regiment ;"  but  the  skill  of  man  was  not  able  to  stay  the 
hand  of  death.  This  march,  so  utterly  futile,  and  wholly  without 
results,  cost  the  Regiment  fifty  lives.  Nine  out  of  ten  of  the 
graduates  of  West  Point  do  not  possess  as  much  common  sense 
as  the  most  illiterate  eighth  corporal  of  volunteers,  and  Gordon 
Granger  was  not  the  tenth  exception.  If  he  had  comfortable 
quarters,  plenty  of  wine,  and  other  enjoyments,  he  apparently 
cared  very  little  for  the  comfort  of  the  men  in  his  command. 

The  next  day  was  Sabbath ;  but  the  men  were  too  weary  for 
preaching  or  dress  parade,  which  were  seldom  omitted  on  Sunday. 

On  the  thirtieth,  Major  Bohn,  of  the  Ninety-Second,  with 
Company  A,  and  five  companies  from  the  other  regiments,  and  a 
battery  of  artillery,  went  to  Hickman  Bridge,  over  the  Kentucky 
River,  fifteen  miles  north  of  Danville,  to  guard  the  bridge  from 
being  burned  by  John  Morgan's  Rebel  cavalry,  and  marched  in  a 
cold  rain-storm,  and  did  not  return  until  the  third  of  January. 


64  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

During  the  year  1862,  the  Regiment  marched  seven  hundred  and 
seventy  miles. 

January  first,  1863,  was  a  bright,  sunny  day.  It  was  cele- 
brated by  big  dinners  and  various  sports  in  camp.  The  Colonel 
was  serenaded,  and  said  he  wished  the  Ninety-Second  could  be 
mounted  and  sent  after  Morgan.  On  the  fifth,  good  news  from 
General  Rosecrans,  at  Stone  River,  made  the  camp  lively  with 
cheers.  On  the  eighth,  the  Regiment  was  paid  up  to  October  31, 
1862.  On  the  tenth,  some  of  the  line  officers  celebrated  their 
first  pay-day  by  buying  cigars  and  apples  for  the  men  of  their  com- 
panies. On  Sunday,  the  eleventh,  there  was  no  preaching  in 
camp;  Chaplain  O.  D.  W.  White  had  resigned  on  account  of  ill- 
ness. Many  citizens  from  Illinois  were  visiting  camp.  Hon. 
Joshua  White  and  Capt.  H.  Weld,  of  Ogle  County,  were  in 
Danville  on  the  twelfth.  On  the  thirteenth,  camp  was  moved 
about  a  mile  to  new  grounds  and  the  Regiment  went  into  camp 
in  a  blinding  snow-storm.  Colonel  J.  C.  Cochran,  of  the  I4th 
Kentucky,  having  resigned,  Colonel  Atkins  assumed  command  of 
the  brigade,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets  of  the  Regiment. 
The  snow  was  four  inches  deep,  and  heavy  details  were  made  to 
chop  wood  for  the  various  hospitals.  A  soldier  writes  in  his  diary, 
on  the  eighteenth:  "I  heard  Colonel  Atkins  repremanding  a 
Kentucky  teamster  to-day  for  abusing  his  mules.  Said  the  Colo- 
nel, '  My  man,  you  ought  to  use  discretion  when  you  are  driving 
mules.'  The  Kentuckian  didn't  know  what  '  discretion'  was,  and 
artlessly  replied :  '  I  would,  Colonel,  but  I  hain't  got  any.'  " 
The  soldier  was  not  punished.  On  the  twenty-first,  Captain 
William  Stouffer,  of  Company  C,  died  of  typhoid  fever.  He  was 
a  generous-hearted,  noble  man,  and  the  Regiment  deeply  felt  his 
loss.  Lieutenant  Hawk,  of  Companv  C,  was  promoted  to  be 
Captain,  and  Second  Lieutenant  Norman  Lewis  promoted  to  First 
Lieutenant,  and  Sergeant  George  P.  Sutton  promoted  to  Second 
Lieutenant;  Lieutenant  E.  F.  Bauder,  of  Company  B,  having  re- 
signed, on  the  recommendation  of  Captain  William  W.  Den- 
nis, and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  all  the  field  and  staff  offi- 
cers, Miles  B.  Light,  of  Company  D,  was  promoted  to  be  Second 
Lieutenant  of  Companv  B.  Some  weeks  afterward,  Captain 
Wilber  W.  Dennis  resigned,  leaving  Companv  B  \vithout  its  com- 
pliment of  officers;  when  Lieutenant  Horace  J.  Smith,  of  Com- 
pany K,  was  commissioned  Captain  of  Company  B.  The  men 
of  Company  B  were  very  justly  indignant  at  the  promotion  of 
men  in  other  companies  to  command  them.  There  was  plenty 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  65 

of  good  material  for  officers  in  Company  B;  but  the  field  officers 
of  the  Regiment  did  not  learn  of  the  excellent  qualities  of  many 
of  the  members  of  Company  B  until  afterward.  The  promotions 
for  Company  B  were  made  with  the  best  of  motives ;  and  the  men 
of  that  company,  while  feeling  the  sting,  conducted  themselves 
like  the  splendid  soldiers  they  were,  and  yielded  obedience  to 
their  new  officers.  They  soon  learned  to  respect  and  love  their 
new  Captain,  Horace  J.  Smith,  who  was  promoted  against  his 
own  wishes.  He  did  not  seek  the  place,  but  he  filled  it  ably. 
The  weather  was  fine  on  the  twenty-fourth,  and  Colonel  Sheets 
had  the  Regiment  out  on  battalion  drill  for  the  first  time  in  a 
month.  On  Sunday,  orders  came  to  march;  and  on  Monday,  the 
Regiment,  with  the  brigade,  marched  at  six  A.  M.,  on  the  Har- 
rodsburg  pike,  passing  through  Harrodsburg  about  noon,  and 
marched  seventeen  miles  and  camped.  The  next  day,  the  Regi- 
ment marched  through  rain  and  snow,  and  camped  three  miles 
north  of  Lawrenceburg^  Marched  at  daylight  on  the  twenty- 
eighth,  the  ground  covered  with  snow;  passed  through  Clayville, 
and  about  eight  miles  south  of  Frankfort;  made  sixteen 
miles,  and  camped  at  three  o'clock  P.  M.  Marched  at  day- 
light,* passing  through  Shelbyville,  sixteen  miles,  and  camped. 
Marched  early  and  camped  at  two  P.  M.,  three  miles  south  of 
Louisville,  Kentucky,  on  the  Shelbyville  pike.  On  the  thirty-first 
of  January,  the  Regiment  marched  through  Louisville,  in  col- 
umn of  platoons,  and  while  passing  the  Gault  House,  a  Kentuck- 
ian  stepped  in  between  the  platoons  and  grabbed  hold  of  a  col- 
ored servant  marching  there,  when  a  soldier  clubbed  his  musket 
and  tapped  the  Kentuckian  on  his  skull,  letting  out  his  brains. 
Not  a  word  was  spoken,  not  a  soldier  broke  step,  but  the  Regi- 
ment moved  steadily  along.  The  Sheriff  of  Louisville,  with  a 
hundred  special  policemen,  stood  upon  the  sidewalk.  They 
intended  to  have  taken  the  colored  servants  out  of  the  Regiment. 
The  quiet  but  effective  reception  given  to  the  man  who  made  the 
first  attempt,  deterred  the  others.  The  Regiment  marched  to 
the  Ohio  River,  and  embarked  on  the  steamers  Tempest  and 
Arizonia.  The  work  of  embarkation  was  not  a  slight  one;  the 
wagons  were  all  taken  apart,  and  stowed  away  between  decks. 
It  was  not  till  late  the  next'  day,  that  the  brigade  was  all  aboard. 
Mrs.  Colonel  Sheets,  Mrs.  Captain  Woodcock,  Mrs.  Major  Bohn, 
Mrs.  Dr.  Helm,  and  many  citizens  from  Ogle,  Stephenson, 
and  Carroll  Counties,  visited  the  Regiment.  The  14111  Ken- 
tucky Infantry,  Colonel  Cochran's  old  regiment,  was  detached, 


66  NINBTT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

and  remained  in  "  loyal  Kentucky."  The  Colonel  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  was  complimented  with  more  suits  for  stealing  negroes. 
Gordon  Granger  ordered  every  colored  man  to  be  left  in  Ken- 
tucky, and  the  police  were  ready  to  nab  any  colored  man  they 
could.  The  order  of  Granger  was,  by  most  of  the  line  officers, 
thought  to  mean  negroes  who  had  no  right  to  accompany  the 
troops,  and  not  to  refer  to  officers'  servants  regularly  employed, 
and  very  few  negroes  left  the  Ninetv-Second  on  account  ot 
Granger's  order.  At  eleven  o'clock  P.  M.,  as  the  moon  rose,  the 
fleet  of  six  steamers,  carrying  Colonel  Atkins'  brigade,  quietly 
dropped  down  the  Ohio  River,  every  one  in  the  Ninetv-Second 
happy  at  the  thought  of  getting  outside  of  "  loyal  Kentucky." 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  67 


CHAPTER  III. 

DOWN  THE  OHIO — UP  THE  CUMBERLAND — FORT  DONELSON — 
NASHVILLE — RESOLUTIONS — MARCH  TO  FRANKLIN — OF- 
FERING BATTLE  TO  VAN  DORN — BRKNTWOOD — BACK  TO 
FRANKLIN — THE  NEW  CHAPLAIN-^-MARCH  TO  TRIUNE — 
FORREST'S  ATTACK  ON  TRIUNE — SHELBYVILLE — THE  COLO- 
NEL'S APPLICATION  TO  BE  DETACHED  FROM  THE  RESERVE 
CORPS — WARTRACE; — THE  REGIMENT  MOUNTED,  AND  AS- 
SIGNED TO  WILDER'S  BRIGADE  OF  MOUNTED  INFANTRY — 
CAMPING  AT  DECHF.RD. 

A  steamboat  journey  on  the  Ohio  River  is  generally  antici- 
pated with  pleasure.  In  summer  time,  a  cabin  passage  in  a 
floating  palace  down  the  Ohio,  surrounded  with  genial  com- 
panions, and  books,  and  music;  sweeping  bv  inlands,  and  forests, 
and  farms;  noting  the  eager  crowds,  who  come  and  go  at 
every  landing, — forms,  together,  a  journey  full  of  pleasure  and 
enjoyment.  The  moving  of  troops  by  steamer  in  mid  winter,  is 
altogether  a  different  thing.  It  is  not  very  hard  for  the  officers, 
who  are  comfortably  quartered  in  the  cabins  and  staterooms,  but 
the  men  suffer.  All  of  the  available  space  below  hatches  is  filled 
bv  taking  the  wagons  and  ambulances  apart,  and  packing  them, 
with  everything  movable,  as  closely  as  possible;  if  there  is  any 
space  left  it  is  assigned  to  a  company  as  "  quarters,"  where  the 
men  can  spread  their  blankets  and  pack  themselves  in  as  closelv 
as  the  living  cargoes  of  African  slaves  were  once  transported. 
On  the  bows,  in  front  of  the  boilers,  the  artillery  is  "  parked," 
with  the  artillery  horses  tied  to  the  railing  as  thick  as  they  can 
stand,  while  all  the  available  space  on  the  boiler  deck  is  used  for 
the  officers'  horses  and  mules  of  the  transportation  trains.  The 
men  are  quartered  all  over  the  vessel,  from  the  texas  to  the  va- 
cant space  under  the  boilers,  wherever  a  soldier  can  lie  down 
without  being  trampled  bv  a  mule  or  a  horse.  By  orders  of  the 
Brigade  Commander,  the  officers  were  directed  to^put  the  sick 
accompanving  the  Regiment  into  the  unoccupied  staterooms,  and 


68  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

at  night  to  cover  the  cabin  floors  with  the  weakest  men,  to  whom 
commanders  of  companies  were  to  furnish  written  permits,  and 
in  the  day  time  to  fill  the  cabins  by  reliefs;  no  well  soldier  to  be 
permitted  to  remain  longer  than  an  hour  at  one  time,  but  to  make 
room  for  those  outside.  It  was  very  cold  on  the  'morning  of 
February  second,  1863,  as  the  boats  bearing  the  Regiment 
steamed  downed  the  Ohio.  To  sleep  in  the  open  air  was  out  of 
the  question,  and  to  keep  warm  in  the  cutting  wind  and  piercing 
storm  required  constant  exercise.  Shortly  after  daylight,  a 
landing  was  made  upon  an  island,  and  the  men  went  ashore  to 
cook  three  days'  rations.  As  soon  as  the  cooking  was  over,  the 
journev  was  continued  down  the  river.  At  night  the  steamers 
coaled  at  Evansville.  *The  weather  continued  very  cold  and 
windy.  A  soldier,  in  his  diary,  writes  under  date  of  February 
third  :  "  This  morning  was  so  cold  that  the  boys  suffered 
greatly ;  not  a  shoulder-strap  was  to  be  seen  outside  of  the  cabin 
until  late  in  the  morning,  and  then  the  gay  officer  would  shiver 
and  run  in  again,  like  a  rat  runs  into  a  hole  when  a  cat  makes  an 
unsuccessful  leap  at  him."  At  five  o'clock  P.  M.,  the  boats  landed 
at  Smithland,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Cumberland  River,  where  the 
artillery-firing  at  Fort  Donelson  was  heard.  Here  the  brigade 
was  to  await  the  arrival  of  the  corps;  but  the  rumble  of  artillery 
at  Fort  Donelson  beckoned  the  brigade  on ;  and  without  orders, 
except  from  the  Brigade  Commander,  the  six  steamers  continued 
up  the  Cumberland,  running  slowly,  and  at  eight  o'clock  the  next 
morning  were  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Fort.  There  was  no 
firing  heard;  it  was  evident  that  the  battle  was  ended;  but  how  it 
had  ended  was  not  known.  Caution  had  to  be  observed ;  if  the 
Rebels  held  the  Fort,  it  would  not  do  to  steam  up  to  the  landing. 
Horsemen  were  observed  in.  the  woods  on  the  right  bank  of  the 
river,  and  the  steamers  landed.  The  Ninety-Second  was  quickly 
on  shore,  and  deployed  in  line  of  battle.  Men  were  sent  to 
a  house  some  distance  up  the  river,  and  information  obtained 
that  our  forces  still  held  the  Fort,  and  that  the  enemy  had 
retired  from  the  conflict.  The  Regiment  returned  to  the  boats, 
and  the  brigade  steamed  up  the  river,  reaching  Fort  Donelson  at 
eleven  o'clock.  The  Rebel  Generals  Forrest  and  Wheeler,  with 
about  eight  thousand  men,  had,  at  one  o'clock  P.  M.  of  the  day 
before,  made  a  desperate  assault  upon  nine  companies  of  the  83d 
Illinois  Volunteers,  and  Company  C,  2d  Illinois  Artillery,  under 
Colonel  A.  C.  Harding,  and  kept  up  the  battle  till  half-past  eight 
P.  M.,  when  the  Rebels  withdrew,  with  a  loss  of  eight  hundred 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  69 

killed  and  wounded.  The  ground  around  the  little  village  of 
Dover  was  strewn  with  the  dead,  lying  as  they  fell ;  and  for  the  first 
time,  the  soldiers  of  the  Ninety-Second  looked  upon  the  horror 
of  a  battle- field  after  the  carnage  was  ended.  Not  quite  a  year 
before,  the  Commander  of  the  Brigade  was  there  as  Captain  of 
Company  A,  nth  Illinois  Volunteers;  and,  after  dinner,  accom- 
panied bv  some  of  the  members  of  his  staff,  he  rode  out  to  the 
long  grave  of  the  nth  Illinois,  nearly  two  miles  from  the  land- 
ing; and  while  they  sat  upon  their  horses,  with  uncovered  heads, 
by  the  grave  of  the  Eleventh,  in  a  light  snow-storm,  such  as  had 
prevailed  at  the  time  when  the  men  who  lay  buried  there  had 
fallen  a  year  before,  the  rear  guard  of  Wheeler  and  Forrest's  Rebel 
cavalry  sent  a  few  leaden  messages  over  the  party.  It  was  a 
remarkable  incident  that  an  officer  of  the  nth  Regiment,  almost 
a  year  after  the  first  battle  of  Fort  Donelson,  on  returning  to  the 
battle-field,  should  find  the  ground  covered  with  the  freshly  slain 
unburied  dead,  and  by  the  grave  of  his  slain  comrades  in  the 
battle  of  nearly  a  year  before,  should  listen  to  the  rattle  of  Rebel 
musketry.  The  next  day  the  steamers  lay  at  the  landing,  without 
disembarking  the  troops,  awaiting  the  arrival  of  General  Gran- 
ger's corps,  which  came  up  during  the  day  and  night ;  and  the 
next  day  at  noon,  the  entire  fleet,  of  about  sixty  steamers,  con- 
voyed by  several  gun-boats,  resumed  the  march  to  Nashville. 
Before  reaching  Clarksville,  where  the  iron  railroad  bridge  had 
been  destroyed,  leaving  portions  of  the  iron-work  hanging  to  the 
piers  and  into  the  river,  somewhat  obstructing  the  passage,  Lieu- 
tenant A.  M.  York,  of  the  Ninety-Second,  heard  the  Captain  of 
the  steamer  Tempest,  in  conversation  with  one  of  his  pilots,  pre- 
dicting a  disaster  at  the  bridge ;  and  the  Lieutenant  believed  that 
it  was  the  intention  of  the  captain  and  pilot,  who  were  Rebel 
sympathizers,  deliberately  to  wreck  the  steamer  Tempest,  and 
the  steamer  Arizonia  lashed  to  its  side,  on  which  the  Ninety- 
Second  was  being  transported.  He  was  therefore  directed,  by 
the  Brigade  Commander,  to  take  a  file  of  soldiers,  let  them  load 
their  guns,  place  the  same  pilot  at  the  wheel,  and  the  captain  by 
the  pilot-house,  and  inform  them  that,  if  any  accident  happened 
at  the  Clarksville  Bridge,  he  was  directed  to  shoot  them  both. 
Lieutenant  York  did  as  he  was  commanded,  and  there  was  no 
accident.  The  fleet  of  steamers  and  gun-boats  moved  slowly, 
and  did  not  arrive  at  Nashville  until  nearly  night  on  the  seventh 
of  February.  The  Regiment  had  marched  eighty  miles  by  land, 
from  Danville,  Kentucky,  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  and  four 


70  NINETT-SBCOND    ILLINOIS. 

hundred  and  twenty  miles  by  steamer,  and  occupied,  in  the  march 
from  the  morning  of  January  twenty-sixth  to  the  evening  of 
February  seventh,  thirteen  days,  at  an  immense  expense  to  the 
Government  for  steamboats  and  gun-boats,  and  the  additional 
expense  of  creating  much  sickness  among  the  men  and  animals, 
by  their  exposure  to  winter  travel  by  steamers.  From  Danville 
to  Nashville,  over  good  roads,  it  is  but  one  hundred  and  seventv 
miles;  and  in  the  same  length  of  time,  by  easy  marches  of  less 
than  fourteen  miles  a  day,  the  command  could  have  been  placed 
in  Nashville,  with  the  health  of  the  men  improved  by  the  march, 
and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  saved  to  the  Government. 
A  volunteer  corporal  would  have  marched  the  command  directly 
from  Danville  to  Nashville ;  and  why  it  was  not  done,  is  one  of 
those  things  which  are  not  explainable  by  the  ordinary  rules  of 
common  sense.  The  next  day,  Sabbath,  the  Regiment  disem- 
barked, marched  through  the  city  of  Nashville,  and  three  miles 
south,  on  the  Franklin  pike,  and  went  into  camp  in  an  old  field, 
where  the  mud  was  horrible  in  rainy  weather,  and  it  rained  nearly 
all  of  the  time  the  Regiment  remained  there.  On  the  fourteenth, 
Lieutenant  John  Gishwiller,  of  Company  G,  resigned  on  account 
of  disability.  On  the  sixteenth,  Lieutenant  Crowell,  of  Com- 
panv  B,  resigned,  and  Sergeant  Henry  C.  Cooling  was  promoted 
to  First  Lieutenant.  On  the  seventeenth,  the  entire  Regiment 
went  into  the  woods  to  chop  fire-wood,  the  rails  being  "  ousga- 
sphield."  A  large  mail,  from  "God's  country,"  came  to  the  Regi- 
ment. On  the  twenty-first,  Colonel  John  Coburn's  brigade 
inarched  to  Franklin.  February  twenty-second,  the  forts  about 
Nashville  fired  cannon  in  honor  of  the  memory  of  Washington. 
Captain  James  Brice,  of  Company  H,  resigned  on  account  of 
illness,  and  Lieutenant  John  F.  Nelson  was  promoted  to  Captain. 
William  McCammons,  Sergeant  of  Company  G,  was  promoted 
to  Lieutenant.  On  the  twenty-fourth,  the  weather  was  beautiful, 
and  there  was  a  review  and  inspection.  On  the  twenty-fifth,  it 
rained;  the  tents  were  getting  old  and  leakv ;  the  Lieutenant, 
Colonel,  and  Major,  "  tenting  together  on  the  old  camp  ground," 
were  wet  as  drowned  rats  in  their  quarters.  On  the  twenty-sixth, 
news  was  received  in  camp,  that  Congress  had  authorized  Presi- 
dent Lincoln  to  call  out  additional  troops.  The  papers  from  the 
North,  received  in  camp,  and  eagerly  read,  had  kept  the  members 
of  the.  Regiment  fully  informed  regarding  the  opposition  made  to 
the  war  by  the  peace-sneaks  at  home;  and  on  this  day,  a  meeting 
was  held  by  the  commissioned  officers  of  the  Ninety-Second. 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  71 

Captain  Albert  Woodcock,  of  Company  K,  was  called  to  the 
Chair,  and  Lieutenant  George  R.  Skinner,  of  Company  D,  Act- 
ing Adjutant  of  the  Regiment,  was  elected  Secretary.  On 
motion,  the  following  named  officers  were  elected  as  a  committee 
to  draft  resolutions,  setting  forth  the  views  of  the  officers  and 
members  of  the  Regiment  upon  the  policy  of  the  Administration, 
and  the  conduct  of  the  copperheads  and  traitors  at  the  North : — 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Benjamin  F.  Sheets;  Captains  Lyman  Pres- 
ton, Mathew  Van  Buskirk,  Egbert  T.  E.  Becker,  John  M.  Scher- 
merhorn,  John  F.  Nelson,  Robert  M.  A.  Hawk,  Horace  J.  Smith, 
Harvey  M.  Timms,  and  Lieutenant  Horace  C.  Scoville,  who 
reported  tyie  following  preamble  and  resolutions,  which  were 
unanimously  adopted  by  the  officers;  and,  upon  being  read  to 
each  company  upon  its  company  parade  ground,  were  adopted, 
with  but  three  dissenting  voices  in  the  entire  Regiment: 

"  CAMP  OF  THE  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEERS,  ) 
"  Near  Nashville,  Tenn.,  February  26th,  1863.      f 
"  WHEREAS,  We,  the  officers  and    members   of  the   Ninety- 
Second  Regiment  Illinois  Volunteers,  have  left  our  >homes,  our 
farms,  our  work-shops,  and  all  our  peaceful  avocations,  and  have 
taken  up  arms  in  the  defense  of  our  country,  now  threatened  by 
tyrannical  and  treacherous  foes,  who  are  endeavoring  to  rend  in 
twain  our  once  peaceful  and  happy  nation;  and 

"  WHEREAS,  Certain  unprincipled  individuals  and  factions 
have  arisen  at  the  North,  who,  by  words  and  by  acts,  are  daily 
aiding  and  giving  comfort  to  our  enemies,  by  bitterly  opposing 
our  Chief  Executive,  by  clogging  the  wheels  of  legislation,  by 
encouraging  our  enemies,  by  discouraging  our  friends,  and,  in 
general,  using  every  effort  to  oppose  any  and  all  measures, 
whether  Executive,  Legislative,  or  Judicial,  which  look  to  the 
speedy  and  happy  termination  of  the  present  Rebellion ; 
therefore, 

"  Resolved,  i.  That  we,  as  a  Regiment,  and  as  individuals, 
hold  all  such  persons  in  the  light  of  enemies — enemies  to  our 
cause — enemies  to  our  country — and  justly  deserving  the  condem- 
nation of  all  true  and  loyal  citizens. 

"  Resolved,  2.  That  any  person  who  will  not,  in  this  hour  of 
his  country's  trial  and  peril,  lend  every  nerve,  use  every  effort, 
and,  lastly,  sacrifice  his  verv  life,  if  needs  be,  on  his  country's 
altar,  is  undeserving  the  friendship  and  support  of  the  members 
of  the  Ninety-Second  Regiment  of  Illinois  Volunteers. 

"  Resolved,  3.  That  words  cannot  express  the  bitter  contempt 


72  NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

and  detestation,  in  which  we  hold  traitors  to  this  Govern- 
ment — the  best  the  sun  ever  shone  upon — wherever  thev  may  be 
found,  and  under  whatever  name  thev  may  assume  to  hide  their 
hellish  purposes. 

"  Resolved,  4.  That  we  are  opposed  to  all  secret  organizations, 
organized  for  any  political  purpose,  believing  it  to  be  an  unmanly 
way  of  gaining  political  power,  subversive  of  Constitutional 
Liberty,  and  in  which  injustice  may  be  done,  as  witness  the  past. 

"  Resolved,  5.  That  a  traitor  has  no  rights  which  this  Gov- 
ernment is  bound  to  respect,  no  matter  where  he  resides ;  that 
copperheads  at  the  North  are  but  a  revised  edition  of  traitors  at 
the  South,  and  that  we  most  earnestly  request  our  friends  at  home 
to  mark  them  for  future  reference — shoot  them,  if  need  be,  and 
write  over  their  graves,  '  Here  lies  a  cowardly  traitor  to  his 
country,  rejected  of  God,  and  despised  of  honest  men.' 

"  Resolved,  6.  That  we  fully  and  unequivocally  endorse  the 
Administration  (Emancipation  Proclamation  included),  in  any 
and  all  efforts  to  suppress  this  unholy  Rebellion,  and  are  deter- 
mined that  '  Butternuts,1  either  North  or  South,  be  brought  to 
speedy  justice,  '  that  hemp  be  not  created  in  vain,  and  that  fire 
and  brimstone  be  not  defrauded.' 

"  Resolved,  7.  That  we  heartily  endorse  the  acts  of  Hon. 
Richard  Yates,  our  Governor,  and  return  him  our  sincere  thanks 
for  his  noble  efforts  in  behalf  of  Illinois  soldiers. 

"  ALBERT  WOODCOCK,  Chairman. 

"  GEORGE  R.  SKINNER,  Secretary" 

On  the  twenty-eighth  of  February,  the  Regiment  was  mus- 
tered for  pay.  On  the  first  of  March,  all  the  regiments  in  the 
brigade  having  adopted  resolutions  of  a  similar  import  to  those 
adopted  by  the  Ninety-Second,  a  brigade  dress  parade  was  held 
in  the  afternoon ;  after  which  each  regiment  was  formed  in  col- 
umn doubled  on  the  center,  and  the  brigade  closed  in  mass; 
when  Colonel  Atkins,  the  Brigade  Commander,  made  the  men 
and  officers  an  address,  which  he  had  previously  been  invited  to 
do.  There  was  cheering  for  Governors  Yates,  of  Illinois,  Todd, 
of  Ohio,  and  Morton,  of  Indiana,  and  for  President  Lincoln  and 
the  old  flag. 

Artillery-firing  was  heard  on  the  fifth  of  March,  in  the  direc- 
tion of  Franklin.  Orders  soon  came  lo  be  ready  at  a  moment's 
notice  to  march  in  light  marching  order,  and  the  command  was 
ready  at  eleven  A.  M.,  and  patiently  waited,  while  the  roar  of 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  73 

artillery  was  almost  continuous  until  six  P.  M.,  when  cars  came, 
and  the  Regiment,  with  the  brigade,  piled  into  and  on  top  of  the 
cattle  cars.  In  an  old  letter  written  b\'  a  soldier,  and  dated  at 
Franklin,  March  sixth;  we  find  the  following:  "We  left  our 
camp  near  Nashville,  last  evening  at  six  P.  M.,  for  this  point,  by 
rail,  in  light  marching  order,  leaving  tents,  horses,  knapsacks, 
baggage,  and  everything  else,  except  one  day's  '  hardtack',  and 
arms  and  ammunition,  behind.  The  miserable  old  cars  and 
crazy  engine  were  just  five  hours  in  getting  us  here,  a  distance  of 
seventeen  miles.  Our  brigade  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  dumped 
down  into  a  muddy  corn-field,  with  no  wood,  shelter,  or  anything, 
and  the  men  and  officers  lay  down  in  the  cold  mud,  with  a  blanket 
for  cover,  and  the  wind  and  rain  pelting  us  from  eleven  o'clock 
P.  M.  until  daylight.  In  military  parlance  this  is  called  '  bivou- 
acing.'  Call  it  what  you  please,  our  boys  think  it  pretty  rough, 
but  stand  it  unmurmeringlv.  All  day  long  we  have  been  stand- 
ing in  the  muddy  corn-field,  with  no  shelter,  and  the  rain  pouring 
down  heavily.  Only  think  of  eight  thousand  men  packed  into 
close  quarters  in  a  corn-field  in  the  pelting  rain,  and  their  con- 
tinuous tramping,  and,  my  word  for  it,  there  will  be  some  mud. 
Yesterday  Colonel  Coburn's  brigade,  about  twenty-five  hundred 
strong,  all  that  were  fit  for  duty,  were  sent  out  toward  Spring 
Hill,  and  left  all  day  unsupported,  fighting  about  eighteen  thou- 
sand Rebels  under  Van  Dorn,  Forrest,  and  Wheeler.  Coburn's 
brigade  made  a  gallant  fight;  but,  surrounded  and  left  alone,  with 
such  terrible  odds  against  them,  were  at  last  compelled  to  surren- 
der, onl}'  a  few  making  their  escape,  and  returning  to  Franklin. 
Some  one  blundered,  and  it  was  not  Coburn."  The  rain  con- 
tinued without  ceasing;  but  in  the  afternoon  of  the  sixth,  the 
tents  and  baggage  of  the  Regiment  came  up,  and  the  men  were 
more  comfortable.  The  troops  at  Franklin  held  the  right  of 
Rosecrans'  armv.  We  were  twenty-one  miles  south  of  Nash- 
ville, and  eighteen  west  of  Murfresboro.  Orders  came  to  the 
Regiment  to  keep  constantly  on  hand  three  days'  cooked  rations. 
Franklin  was  a  Rebel  town ;  and  it  was  reported  in  camp  that  the 
Rebel  citizens  had  sent  word  to  Van  Dorn,  Wheeler,  and  Forrest, 
to  come  into  Franklin  tor  supper  on  the  sixth.  Bui  the  Rebel 
Generals  did  not  like  the  company  that  had  forced  itself  upon  the 
people  of  Franklin,  and  did  not  accept  of  the  invitation  of  the 
citizens  to  take  supper  in  that  town.  On  the  seventh,  the  rail- 
road bridge  across  the  Harpeth  River  was  completed.  On  the 
eighth,  many  troops,  cavalry  and  infantry,  including  Sheridan's 


74  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

division,  arrived  and  reported  to  General  Gordon  Granger.  On 
the  ninth,  all  of  the  troops  at  Franklin,  under  the  command  of 
Gordon  Granger,  marched  southward  on  the  Columbia  pike,  the 
cavalry  skirmishing  lightly  with  the  enemy,  who  fell  back  before 
our  advance,  and  the  Regiment  bivouaced  one  and  a  half  miles 
south  of  Spring  Hill ;  moved  the  next  day  at  noon  to  Rutherford 
Creek,  seven  miles  south  of  Spring  Hill,  and  went  into  camp 
after  dark.  Remained  in  camp  all  the  next  day,  the  Rebels  ap- 
pearing in  considerable  force  about  noon,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  creek,  and,  for  an  hour,  shelled  the  Regiment,  without  doing 
any  injury.  Our  brigade  battery  shelled  a  column  of  the  enemy's 
cavalry  marching  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream.  It  cleared  up 
at  noon.  The  cavalry  followed  the  enemv  to  Duck  River,  at 
Columbia.  Duck  River  was  at  flood  tide  with  heavy  rains,  and 
no  bridge,  and  the  independent  corporals  of  volunteers,  who  did 
their  own  thinking,  never  doubted  that  Gordon  Granger,  who 
commanded  a  column  three  times  the  force  of  the  enemy  north 
of  the  river,  by  energetic  work,  might  have  compelled  the  enemy 
to  accept  battle,  and  have  killed,  drowned  or  captured  the  entire 
Rebel  force.  Moved  back  to  Franklin  the  next  morning,  Gene- 
ral Sheridan's  division  taking  the  lead,  his  corps  of  trumpeters 
making  the  echoes  ring  as  he  marched  out.  His  troops  marched 
like  quarter  horses,  and  made  no  halt  until  they  reached  camp  at 
Franklin,  and  the  Ninety-Second  bowled  along  nineteen  miles 
in  six  hours,  without  a  halt,  keeping  up  with  the  column.  The 
troops  wondered  why  in  the  world  Granger  was  in  such  a  hurry 
to  get  back  to  Franklin,  when  he  had  uselesslv  consumed  so 
much  time  in  marching  out.  Just  before  reaching  Franklin,  a 
squad  of  Rebel  cavalry  fired  on  the  rear  guard,  and  the  Regiment 
was  halted,  and  put  into  line  of  battle;  but  the  enemy  not  appear- 
ing in  force,  the  Regiment  crossed  the  Harpeth,  and  went  into 
camp.  Oscar  Taylor,  Esq.,  of  Freeport,  the  law-partner  of  the 
Colonel  of  the  Ninety-Second,  and  brother  of  the  Chief  Quar- 
termaster of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  visited  the  Regiment. 
The  next  day  the  order  to  keep  three  days'  cooked  rations  on 
hand  was  renewed.  On  the  fourteenth,  the  troops  of  Franklin 
were  reviewed  by  General  Gordon  Granger.  On  Sunday,  the 
fifteenth,  the  Regiment  listened  to  a  sermon  by  a  private  soldier 
of  Company  E;  and  a  soldier,  in  his  diarv,  writes:  "I  would 
give  more  to  hear  him  pi  each,  although  he  gets  but  thirteen  dol- 
lars per  month,  than  I  would  to  hear  Chaplain  White,  who  gets 
a  hundred  dollars  a  month."  Contrabands  had  been  at  work 


NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  75 

building  a  fort  on  the  north  side  of  the  Harpeth ;  but,  by  order  of 
General  Granger,  heavy  details  of  soldiers  were  made  for  that 
purpose.  On  the  seventeenth,  a  line  guard  was  put  around  the 
Regiment,  to  the  great  disgust  of  the  men.  A  few  unruly  sol- 
diers made  it  necessary  to  guard  the  entire  Regiment.  Heavy 
siege  guns  were  mounted  on  the  fort  at  Franklin.  Lieutenant 
David  B.  Colehour,  of  Company  I,  died  in  hospital  at  Nashville. 
He  was  an  excellent  officer,  and  his  loss  was  deeply  felt  by  his 
comrades.  On  the  twentieth,  the  Regiment,  an  hour  before  day- 
light, marched  over  the  Harpeth  to  the  south  of  the  town  of 
Franklin,  and  remained  thirty  hours  on  picket,  the  picket  line 
extending  entirely  around  the  town,  from  river  bank  above  to 
river  bank  below.  An  hour  before  daylight  the  next  morning, 
another  regiment  marched  out  to  the  reserve  post,  at  an  old  cot- 
ton gin  and  press  south  of  the  town,  so  that  there  were  two  full 
regiments  on  picket  at  daylight:  after  daylight  the  Ninety-Second 
returned  to  camp.  On  Sunday,  the  twenty-second,  Company  A 
received  large  boxes  of  good  things  to  eat  and  to  wear  from  home. 
Sergeant  Samuel  L.  Bailey,  of  Company  H,  was  promoted  to 
Lieutenant.  There  was  brigade  dress  parade.  On  Monday 
morning,  the  pickets  were  fired  on,  and  the  Regiment  was  in  line 
an  hour  before  daylight.  The  first  regimental  drill  since  leaving 
Nashville  took  place.  On  the  twenty-fifth,  firing  was  heard  in 
the  direction  of  Nashville  before  daylight,  and  the  Regiment  was 
soon  in  line  of  battle,  with  faces  toward  home.  And  there  they 
stood  in  the  peach  orchard,  listening  to  an  occasional  gun  at" 
Brentwood,  eight  miles  away,  until  long  after  daylight,  when 
orders  came  to  march.  From  an  old  letter  written  by  a  soldier 
of  the  Ninety-Second,  we  extract  the  following:  "  There  we 
waited  until  the  cavalry,  under  command  of  Brigadier  General 
Green  Clay  Smith,  of  Kentucky,  took  the  road — didn't  the  bu- 
gles blow  though,  and  didn't  they  go  helter-skelter  out  on  the 
pike,  with  sabers  jingling!  After  the  capture  of  Colonel  Co- 
burn,  at  Spring  Hill,  the  debris  of  his  brigade,  convalescents, 
teamsters,  etc.,  about  three  hundred  men,  had  been  sent  to  Brent- 
wood,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Bloodgood,  of 
the  22d  Wisconsin,  and  had  not  been  there  many  days,  when 
Van  Dorn  sent  a  column  of  cavalry  from  Spring  Hill,  crossing  the 
Harpeth  on  the  Granny  White  pike  road  west  of  Franklin,  and 
made  an  attack  on  Brentwood  just  before  daylight;  and  Lieuten- 
ant Colonel  Bloodgood  surrendered  without  losing  a  man,  or 
scarcely  firing  a  shot.  A  few  of  his  men,  in  a  stockade  at  a  rail- 


76  NINETr-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

road  bridge,  held  out  until  Van  Dorn  planted  his  artillery  and 
fired  a  few  shots,  when  they  surrendered  also.  It  was  while  the 
Rebel  artillery  was  firing  that  the  Regiment  got  into  line  of 
battle  at  Franklin.  General  Green  Clay  Smith  and  his  chargers 
found  a  Rebel  picket  at  Hollow  Tree  Gap,  and  fooled  around 
waiting  until  the  infantry  came  up  from  Franklin,  and  until  Van 
Dorn's  column,  with  all  their  prisoners  and  plunder,  was  well  on 
its  way  to  Spring  Hill  by  the  road  it  came.  And  then,  when  the 
Rebel  picket  at  Hollow  Tree  Gap  had  voluntarily  retired,  the 
cavalry  followed  up  their  rear  guard,  skirmishing  occasionally ; 
and  the  Kentucky  newspapers  had  glowing  accounts  of  how 
General  Green  Clay  Smith  drove  Van  Dorn  back  to  his  camp. 
Our  boys  said  that  Van  Dorn  had  found  the  muster  rolls  of 
Coburn's  brigade,  and  had  come  back  after  the  balance  of  the 
command ;  they  got  it  all,  slick  and  clean,  by  the  second  capture 
at  Brentwood.  Now,  the  Granny  White  pike  crosses  the  Harpeth 

not  far  west  of  Franklin;  and  why  in  the  d 1  General   Gordon 

Granger  did  not  send  a  portion  of  his  corps  of  infantry  to  inter- 
cept Van  Dorn  on  his  return  to  Spring  Hill,  is  one  of  those 
things  which  no  private  soldier  of  volunteers  can  ever  find  out." 
The  Ninety-Second  did  not  march  farther  than  Hollow  Tree 
Gap,  when  it  returned  to  Franklin,  and  went  into  camp.  By 
command  of  General  Granger,  the  troops  at  Franklin  were  or- 
dered into  line  of  battle,  each  morning  an  hour  before  daylight, 
to  stand  shivering  in  the  fog  from  the  Harpeth,  until  after  sun- 
rise. On  the  afternoon  of  the  twenty-seventh,  Lieutenant  Colo- 
nel Sheets  received  orders  to  be  ready  to  march  in  fifteen 
minutes.  The  Ninety-Second  was  promptly  in  line,  and  marched 
at  five  o'clock  P.  M.  to  Brentwood,  reaching  there  after  dark,  and 
bivouaced  in  the  rain.  The  Colonel  of  the  Ninety-Second  was 
in  command  of  the  troops,  having  with  him  the  Ninety-Second, 
the  96th  Illinois  Volunteers,  the  6th  Kentucky  Volunteer  Cav- 
alry, and  gth  Ohio  Battery  of  Artillery.  The  next  morning,  the 
Regiment,  and  all  of  the  command,  went  into  camp  in  a  grove 
near  a  railroad  bridge  which  the}'  were  to  guard,  and,  on  the  next 
morning,  commenced  fortifying,  the  cavalry  regiment  doing 
scouting  duty.  A  strong  little  fort  was  built  for  the  artillery  on 
the  brow  of  the  hill,  and  a  trench  large  enough  to  hold  two  regi- 
ments was  dug  around  it,  in  zig-zag  shape,  six  feet  wide,  and  six 
feet  deep,  with  benches  of  earth  left  each  side  for  the  troops 
to  stand  on  while  firing.  Timber  was  cut,  and  out  of  the  limbs 
was  formed  chevaux-dc-frise;  that  is,  the  limbs  were  sharpened  at 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  77 

the  points,  and  placed  thicklv,  points  outward,  around  the  trench 
and  fort,  and  staked  fast,  so  that  a  charging  column  could  not  get 
easily  over,  or  through  them,  or  remove  them,  without  axes. 
The  bodies  of  the  trees  were  laid  along  the  trench  on  both  sides, 
elevated  on  skids,  so  that  the  troops  in  the  trench  could  fire 
through  the  opening  under  the  logs,  and  have  their  heads  pro- 
tected from  the  enemy's  fire  by  them.  The  ground  was  chosen 
on  the  apex  of  a  knoll ;  and,  bv  cutting  down  the  trees  on  a  gen- 
tleman's lawn,  and  felling  the  trees  in  his  orchard,  which  was, 
of  course,  done,  a  clean  sweep  for  musketry  was  obtained  all 
around.  It  was  an  unique  idea;  no  such  work  was  treated  of  in 
anv  military  book;  but  it  was  inspected  bv  Captain  Merrill, 
Chief  Engineer  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  and  pro- 
nounced by  him  to  be  one  of  the  strongest  works  that  could  have 
been  as  easily  constructed  on  that  ground.  Major  John  C.  Smith, 
a  gallant  soldier  of  the  g6th  Illinois  Volunteers,  had  general 
charge  of  the  construction  of  the  little  fort  and  trench.  All  of 
the  able-bodied  contrabands  in  the  vicinity  were  pressed  into 
service,  and  heavy  details  made  on  the  command  for  the  work. 
One  white  man  was  pressed  into  the  service  also,  Dr.  William 
Mavlield,  a  finely  educated,  gentlemanly  appearing  little  fellow, 
who  practiced  medicine  in  that  neighborhood.  The  Doctor,  on 
March  3Oth,  visited  the  head-quarters  of  the  Colonel  command- 
ing, and  requested  a  permit  to  pass  the  guards,  night  or  day,  on 
4  professional  duty."  A  permit  was  prepared  for  him,  but  he 
was  requested  to  sign  a  written  statement  that  he  was,  and  would 
remain,  a  loyal  citizen,  and,  under  penalty  of  death,  would  not 
give  information  to  the  enemv.  The  Doctor  blandly  remarked 
that  he  could  not  sign  it,  for  the  reason  that  he  was  a  Rebel. 
"What!"  said  the  Colonel,  "do  you  come  here  into  my  head- 
quarters, and  insist  on  a  permit  to  pass  my  lines,  night  or  day, 
and  tell  me  that  you  are  a  Rebel?  Guard,  take  this  Rebel  to 
Major  Smith,  and  tell  him  to  put  the  fellow  at  work  in  the 
trenches."  The  guard  did  not  need  a  second  order.  Side  by  side 
with  his  own  slaves  the  little  fellow  dug  and  delved  until,  after  a 
day  or  two,  Major  Smith  reported  him  ill,  and  obtained  permis- 
sion to  relieve  him.  The  soldiers,  and  the  darkies,  enjoyed  it 
considerably  more  than  did  the  little  Rebel  Doctor.  The  boys 
would  have  their  sport,  and  always  enjoyed  getting  some  laugh 
on  the  officers.  They  found  in  the  vicinity  a  little,  old  jackass, 
and  dressed  him  up  in  officers'  uniform,  with  the  hugest  pair  of 
shoulder-straps  ever  seen,  and  paraded  him  through  the  camps, 


78  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

to  the  delight  of  every  one,  for  the  officers  good-naturedly  joined 
in  the  laugh,  although  it  was  at  their  expense.  On  the  fifth  of 
April,  there  was  a  scare  in  camp,  and  the  pickets  were  doubled ; 
the  enemy  were  reported  to  be  marching  in  strong  force  to  attack 
the  camp.  How  the  boys  did  want  them  to  come  on,  just  to  be 
able  to  show  them  that  surrendering,  without  righting,  was  not 
what  the  Ninety-Second  enlisted  for.  The  command  was  ready 
for  them,  and  that  is  just  the  reason  why  they  did  not  come. 
Troops  that  are  vigilant,  and  always  readjr  for  battle,  are  seldom 
gobbled  up.  For  a  nation,  the  surest  guarantee  of  peace  is  to  be 
ready  for  war;  for  an  outpost  of  an  army,  the  surest  guarantee 
that  there  will  be  no  fighting  to  do,  is  to  be  ready  to  accept  battle 
at  any  moment.  The  cavalry  regiment  was  sent  out,  and  found 
parties  of  the  enemy,  who  did  not  press  on  toward  the  command, 
but  retreated.  On  the  eighth  of  April,  General  Morgan,  with  a 
division  of  infantry,  arrived  from  Nashville  at  Brentwood,  and, 
on  thirty  minutes'  notice,  at  five  o'clock  P.  M.,  the  command 
took  up  the  line  of  march  on  its  return  to  Franklin,  arriving 
after  dark;  and  was  up  in  line  of  battle  at  three  in  the  morning  of 
the  ninth,  in  accordance  with  Granger's  order.  On  the  tenth,  at 
about  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  Van  Dorn's  cavalry,  having  been  in- 
formed that  Franklin  was  evacuated — the  information  probably 
being  based  upon  the  fact  that  Sheridan's  division  had  returned 
to  the  vicinity  of  Murfresboro — made  a  furious  attack  upon  the 
4Oth  Ohio  Infantry,  of  Atkins'  Brigade,  which  was  doing  picket 
duty  south  of  Franklin.  Of  course,  the  Ninety-Second  was  in 
line  of  battle  very  quickly.  Van  Dorn's  troops  charged  the  cav- 
•alry  outposts  on  the  three  roads  leading  south  from  Franklin,  and 
chased  them  in  on  a  dead  run,  all  at  the  same  time.  The  4Oth 
Ohio  did  not  leave  their  posts ;  but  the  officers  and  men  of  that 
entire  regiment  made  but  little  impression  on  the  charging  Rebel 
columns  that  swept  by  while  the  4Oth  Ohio  emptied  their  muskets 
at  them  ;  then  the  soldiers  of  the  4Oth  Ohio  took  to  the  gardens, 
buildings,  and  outhouses;  while  the  charging  Rebel  columns 
swarmed  down  into  the  village  of  Franklin,  one  Rebel  even 
crossing  the  pontoon  bridge  to  the  north  of  the  river  Harpeth, 
and  others  being  killed  at  the  bridge  on  the  south  side.  The 
Rebels  soon  learned  that  their  information  in  regard  to  the  evacu- 
ation of  Franklin  was  a  mistake,  and  that  Granger's  entire  corps 
still  held  it;  and  then  they  charged  out  again,  a  little  more  rapidly 
than  they  had  come  in,  while  the  4oth  Ohio  gave  them  a  hearty 
salute  as  they  passed  back  toward  Spring  Hill.  The  4oth  lost 


NINETY  SECOND    ILLINOIS.  79 

but  two  killed  and  seven  wounded,  while  nineteen  dead  Rebels 
lay  close  by  their  line,  all  killed  with  their  musketry,  and  there 
must  have  been  a  large  number  of  Rebels  wounded.  The  hills 
and  woods  south  of  Franklin  swarmed  with  Van  Dorn's  grey- 
coats; and  the  heavy  siege  artillery,  at  the  fort  on  the  north  side 
of  the  Harpeth,  sent  shells  over  the  4Oth  Ohio,  and  screaming  on 
beyond.  The  newspapers  reported  one  hundred 'and  fifty  killed 
and  wounded  in  Van  Dorn's  command,  probably  a  high  estimate. 
The  cavalry  of  Green  Clay  Smith  followed  the  Rebels  again  on 
their  return  to  Spring  Hill.  The  dead  Rebels  near  the  pickets  of 
the  4Oth  Ohio  had  canteens,  with  whisky  and  powder  mixed  in 
them ;  and  whether  or  not  they  were  inspired  by  draughts  from 
their  canteens,  they  certainly  made  a  most  wreckless  and  dashing 
charge  into  Franklin  and  out  again.  On  the  eleventh,  a  large 
number  of  Rebel  wounded  were  picked  up  in  the  woods  south  of 
the  town,  and  taken  to  the  hospitals.  On  the  twelfth,  the  Ninety- 
Second  again  did  picket  duty  south  of  Franklin.  Gordon  Gran- 
ger camped  his  corps  north  of  the  Harpeth,  and  daily  sent  a 
regiment  to  encircle  the  town  on  the  south,  and  a  regiment  to 
reinforce  it  at  three  A.  M.,  so  as  to  have  two  regiments  there  at 
daylight  each  morning.  When  Major  General  Schofield  was 
falling  back  in  front  of  Hood's  Rebel  army,  and  made  a  stand  at 
Franklin,  and  repulsed  Hood's  fiery  attack,  Schofield  made  his 
line  of  battle  where  the  line  of  the  reserve  pickets  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  was  this  day ;  that  is,  south  of  Franklin,  encircling  the 
town  from  river  bank  to  river  bank.  On  the  fifteenth  of  April, 
the  Ninety-Second  was  made  happy  by  receiving  four  months' 
pay.  Pay  day  was  always  looked  forward  to  most  anxiously  in 
the  army;  many  of  the  men  had  families  at  home,  and  needed 
the  trifling  amount  of  their  stipulated  monthly  pay  to  keep  the 
wolf  from  their  home  firesides  during  their  absence.  There  is 
too  much  machinery  in  the  United  States  Army;  the  Pay- 
master's Department  ought  to  be  abolished,  and  Regimental 
Quartermasters  instructed  to  pay  the  men  promptly  every  month. 
If  not  desirable  for  Regimental  Quartermasters  to  carry  the  coin 
or  currency  with  them  on  campaigns,  payments  might  be  made 
in  drafts'  on  the  money  centers  of  the  country,  adding  five  mills 
on  a  dollar  for  every  hundred  miles,  from  place  of  drawing  draft 
to  place  of  payment;  such  drafts,  in  the  hands  of  the  soldier, 
would  be  worth  the  full  amount  of  his  monthly  pay  anywhere. 
The  laborer  is  worthy  of  his  hire,  and  then  he  would  have  it 
when  due  him.  On  the  seventeenth  of  April,  orders  from  brigade 


8o  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

head-quarters  were  issued  to  detail  men  from  each  company  to 
cook  coffee,  when  the  command  went  into  line  of  battle  before 
daylight,  and  furnish  each  man  in  line  A  cup  full  of  hot  coffee  as 
soon  as  possible.  Malaria  lurks  in  the  fog  that  rests  upon  the 
earth  just  before  sunrise,  and  coftee  is  an  antidote  to  malaria. 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets  had  already  disobeyed  the  orders  of 
Gordon  Granger,  to  stand  silently  in  battle-line,  and  had  assisted 
the  circulation  of  the  blood  of  the  men  in  the  Ninety-Second,  by 
rapid  exercise  in  the  manual  of  arms,  and  even  by  double-quick 
marching;  but,  with  every  precaution,  the  men  could  not  stand 
it,  and  were  rapidly  going  into  hospital;  it  was  only  a  sad  conso- 
lation to  know  that  the  percentage  in  the  Ninety-Second  of  sick 
men  was  much  lower  than  in  anv  other  regiment.  On  the 
eighteenth,  Second  Lieutenant  Horace  C.  Scoville,  of  Company 
K,  was  promoted  to  First  Lieutenant,  and  Sergeant  Peleg  R. 
Walker,  of  Company  K,  was  promoted  to  Second  Lieutenant. 
On  the  twentieth,  there  was  target  practice  by  the  Regiment,  and 
Company  A,  with  the  smallest  number  of  men,  hit  the  target  the 
most  times.  On  the  twenty-second,  the  Regiment  turned  over 
the  bell  tents  drawn  at  Cincinnatit,  and  drew  "dog  tents."  It 
was  the  greatest  possible  improvement  upon  the  old  manner  ot 
sheltering  the  men — far  better  for  their  health,  and  gave  greater 
mobility  to  the  army,  as  it  cut  down  the  transportation  trains 
eleven  wagons  and  sixty-six  mules  to  every  regiment.  They 
were  simply  strips  of  tent-cloth,  about  six  and  a  half  feet  long, 
by  three  feet  wide,  with  button-holes  on  one  edge,  and  buttons  on 
the  other,  one  issued  to  each  man,  and  to  be  carried  by  him  on 
the  march,  and  two  buttoned  together  formed  the  "  tent"  of  two 
soldiers.  The  men  regarded  them  with  extreme  aversion,  and 
there  were  serious  threatenings  of  mutiny  when  they  were 
issued.  A  soldier  of  the  Ninety-Second,  writing  from  Franklin 
in  a  letter  home,  says:  "  The  'dog-kennels'  have  been  introduced 
into  our  Regiment;  and  now,  in  place  of  the  sixty-five  or  seventy 
tents  used  by  us  for  the  last  eight  months,  we  have  one  of  these 
rags  for  each  man.  Shelter  tent  is,  however,  a  misnomer:  there 
is  no  shelter  about  it,  but  precisely  the  opposite.  Have  you  ever 
seen  one?  No.  Well,  I  can  introduce  you  to  the  modus  ope- 
rand! of  making  one.  Rob  your  bed  of  a  sheet,  if  you  have 
one  (and  if  you  have,  it  is  more  than  I  have  had  for  some  time,  if 
not  longer);  and  now,  while  speaking  of  sheets,  it  is  enough  to 
put  a  soldier  to  feeling  bad  not  to  have  any,  for  there  is  a  charm 
in  that  word  sheets :  yes,  there  is.  But  to  go  on  and  tell  you  ho\v 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  81 

to  make  one  of  these  dog  kennels.  Go  out  into  the  yard,  if  you 
have  one ;  pm  down  two  sides  of  the  sheet  by  a  little  pegging, 
and  then  run  a  pole,  if  you  have  one,  through  the  center,  length- 
wise ;  elevate  it  upon  big  stones  or  stakes  at  the  corners,  and  you 
have  a  dog  kennel  such  as  we  have,  except  that  yours  will  be 
larger  than  ours.  Ours  are  about  five  feet  wide  by  six  feet  long, 
and  are  intended  for  two  persons  by  splicing.  In  order  to  get 
into  them,  the  hands  and  knees  are  brought  into  requisition.  In 
turning  over  through  the  night,  you  must  remember  that  it  is 
safest  to  back  out,  turn  over,  and  then  crawl  in  again.  Unless 
you  do  so,  you  are  extremely  liable  to  injure  your  pole,  and  down 
comes  your  dog  kennel.  If  Gordon  Granger  comes  riding 
through  the  camp,  certain  as  you  live,  out  comes  the  entire  com- 
mand on  hands  and  knees  from  the  dog  kennels,  and  such  un- 
earthly barking,  like  dogs,  never  was  heard ;  and  thousands  take 
it  up,  and  away  over  and  beyond  the  fort,  and  all  through  the 
corps  it  is  bark,  bark,  and  growl,  growl."  During  the  night  of  the 
twenty-sixth,  the  cavalry,  under  Gen.  Green  Clay  Smith,  inarched 
out  in  the  direction  of  Spring  Hill,  and  surprised  a  camp  of 
Rebels,  capturing  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  prisoners,  and 
one  hundred  horses;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-seventh, 
Atkins'  brigade,  including  our  Regiment,  marched  out  to  meet  the 
cavalry  returning,  and  to  be  ready  to  support  them,  if  support 
was  required.  On  April  thirtieth,  the  Regiment  was  mustered 
for  pay,  and  inspected  by  Brigadier  General  A.  Baird,  Division 
Commander.  The  day  was  observed  by  the  Regiment  as  a  day 
of  fasting  and  prayer. 

On  the  first  of  May,  Atkins'  brigade,  accompanied  by  a  regiment 
of  cavalry,  made  a  reconnoissance  in  the  direction  of  Spring 
Hill,  with  a  little  skirmishing,  the  Rebel  picket  falling  back.  On 
the  second,  the  Regiment  again  did  picket  duty  south  of  Frank- 
lin. Chaplain  Cartwright,  appointed  vice  White  resigned,  reached 
camp,  and,  finding  the  regimental  grounds  nearly  deserted, 
approached  Major  Bohn,  who  was  solemnly  presiding  over  the 
deserted  camp,  when  the  following  dialogue  is  supposed  to  have 
ensued:  Chaplain — "Do  you  belong  to  the  Ninety-Second?" 
Major — "  Yes,  I  have  the  honor  to  belong  to  that  Regiment." 
Chaplain — "  Well,  God  bless  you;  how  do  you  do?  I  am  Chap- 
lain of  the  Ninety-Second.  How  are  you?  Where  is  Sheets?" 
Major — "Sheets,  Sheets!  Who  is  Sheets?"  Chaplain — "Why, 
God  bless  you,  man ;  you  a  member  of  the  Ninety-Second,  and 
don't  know  Sheets,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets?"  Major — "  Oh! 
10 


82  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

ah!  you  are  inquiring  about  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets,  are  you?" 
Chaplain — "Yes,  Sheets;  I  know  Sheets,  and  Sheets  knows  me, 
and  I  want  to  see  Sheets."  Major — "  Well,  I  am  sorry  to  say 
that  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets  is  not  in  just  now."  Chaplain — 
"  Well,  where  is  Woodcock?"  Major — "Woodcock,  Woodcock! 
There  are  plenty  of  mocking-birds  in  the  woods  along  the  Har- 
peth,  stranger;  but,  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  I  have  n't  had  a  shot  at 
a  woodcock  since  I  left  Carroll  County."  Chaplain — '•  I  mean 
Captain  Woodcock,  the  County  Clerk  at  Oregon."  Major — "  Oh ! 
do  you  refer  to  Captain  Woodcock,  of  Company  K?"  Chap- 
lain— "  Yes,  I  know  him."  Major — "  Well,  Captain  Woodcock 
is  not  in,  either,  just  now."  Chaplain — "  Well,  then,  where  is 
Preston;  I  know  Preston."  Major — "  Preston,  Preston;  it  seems 
to  me  that  name  sounds  familiar;  who  is  Preston?"  Chaplain — 
"  Why,  Captain  Preston,  of  Polo."  Major — "  Oh !  you  wish  to 
inquire  about  Captain  Preston,  of  Company  D?"  Chaplain — 
"  I  know  him,  too."  Major — "  Well,  I  am  sorry  to  say  that  Cap- 
tain Preston  is  not  here  just  now."  At  this  juncture,  the  Chap- 
lain espied  a  soldier  whom  he  had  known  in  Ogle  County, 
Illinois,  and  bolted  for  him,  and  met  a  much  warmer  reception 
than  Major  Bohn  had  given  him.  When  the  Major  used  to  tell 
about  it,  and  declared  that  he  was  going  to  teach  the  new  Chap- 
lain to  have  dignity,  everybody  smiled  out  loud  at  the  unique  idea 
of  the  Major  teaching  "  dignity"  to  any  one.  On  the  third,  the 
new,  old  Chaplain  preached  his  first  sermon,  and  won  the  respect 
and  love  of  the  men  and  officers  from  the  start.  Colonel  Sheets 
declined  to  order  the  men  to  attend  preaching,  but  the  Chaplain 
found  a  way  to  get  them  out.  At  half-past  ten,  the  usual  church 
time,  the  melodious  and  sonorous  voice  of  the  Chaplain  was 
heard,  "  Ho,  boys !  Ho,  boys !  Come  up  here,  and  help  me  serve 
the  Lord  for  half  an  hour,  and  I  will  help  you  in  the  trenches  the 
balance  of  the  week."  That  was  a  proposition,  on  the  part  of  the 
Chaplain,  that  meant  business.  The  boys  took  him  at  his  word; 
he  had  a  congregation  of  willing  listeners,  and  the  men  did  not 
afterward  complain  that  the  Chaplain  did  not  keep  his  part  of  the 
bargain.  It  did  not  run  in  the  Cartwright  blood  to  be  lazy;  and, 
with  pick,  or  spade,  or  axe,  the  Chaplain  was  an  adept.  On  the 
fifth,  the  Regiment  went  out  chopping  a  swath  through  the  tim- 
ber on  the  hill-tops,  for  the  signal  corps  to  sight  their  flags 
through.  Now,  of  course,  the  soldiers  of  the  Ninety-Second 
know  all  about  what  that  means;  but,  possibly,  the  child  of  a  sol- 
dier who  may,  perchance,  read  this  book  long  years  hence,  will 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  83 

not  know  what  it  means ;  and  it  is  npt  an  easy  thing  to  explain 
it  in  print,  but  we  shall  try  and  do  so.  If  "  the  Committee  on 
Publication"  belonged  to  the  signal  corps,  and  fully  understood 
it  themselves,  they  might  be  able  to  explain  it  better ;  but,  alas ! 
the}'  don't.  Well,  to  start  with,  the  signal  corps  send  messages 
from  station  to  station  by  motion  of  flags.  The  signal  flag  is  a 
large,  square,  white  flag,  with  a  square  patch  of  red  in  the  center. 
In  communicating  with  another  signal  station,  down  to  the 
ground  will  go  the  signal  flag  to  the  right  and  up  again ;  then 
down  to  the  right  and  up  again  twice  in  rapid  succession ;  then 
down  to  the  left  and  up  again ;  then  down  to  the  right  and  clear 
over  down  to  the  left  and  up  again:  and  so  it  goes.  These 
motions  of  the  signal  flag  mean  something;  we  don't  know  what 
they  mean,  only  that  every  quick  motion  of  the  flag  indicates  a 
letter  of  the  alphabet,  and  that  the  message  is  being  spelled  out 
by  an  officer  of  the  next  signal  station,  who  is  watching  the  mo- 
tions of  the  signal  with  a  powerful  field  telescope.  Sometimes, 
when  high  points  are  occupied  by  the  signal  stations,  they  are 
twenty  miles  apart.  Sometimes  the  forest  trees,  on  the  highest 
points  between  stations,  have  to  be  chopped  down  to  open  a  sight- 
way  from  signal  station  to  signal  station ;  and  the  Ninety-Second 
were  all  wood-choppers  on  the  fifth  of  May,  1863,  performing 
such  duty.  On  the  sixth,  the  pickets  on  the  Louisburg  pike, 
south  of  Franklin,  were  attacked,  and  Atkins'  Brigade  moved  out, 
the  Ninety-Second  having  the  advance.  General  Baird,  a  soldier 
loved  by  all  under  him,  accompanied  the  command,  and  skir- 
mished with  the  enemy  quite  lively  until  dark;  returned  to  camp 
about  nine  o'clock  at  night.  On  the  eighth,  Dr.  Peters,  of  Spring 
Hill,  walked  into  the  head-quarters  of  the  Rebel  General  Van 
Dorn,  and  deliberately  killed  him,  by  shooting  him  through 
the  head  with  a  pistol,  on  account  of  the  alleged  intimacy  of 
General  Van  Dorn  with  Mrs.  Peters.  Doctor  Peters,  in  the  ex- 
citement momentarily  created  by  the  assassination  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Rebel  General,  made  his  escape  to  the  woods,  in 
the  rear  end  of  the  house,  and  was  at  Franklin  the  next  day  with 
the  Union  lines,  boasting  of  his  exploit.  General  Gordon  Gran- 
ger fixed  up  a  letter,  directed  to  the  Commander  of  the  Confede- 
rate forces  at  Spring  Hill,  and  sent  the  Colonel  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  to  deliver  it  under  a  flag  of  truce.  With  a  hundred  cavalry 
as  an  escort,  and  a  good  supply  of  Havana  cigars,  and  imported 
wine,  from  General  Granger's  stock,  accompanied  by  a  few  offi- 
cers in  their  best  suits,  he  approached  the  Rebel  pickets,  and 


«4  N1NETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

requested  that  an  officer  equal  in  rank  might  be  sent  for,  to  re- 
ceive his  dispatches.  While  waiting  for  a  Confederate  Colonel  to 
arrive,  supper  was  prepared  at  a  farm-house.  When  the  Con- 
federate Colonel  came,  accompanid  by  a  few  officers,  all  sat  down 
together  at  supper.  The  grey-coats  made  the  best  display  of  good 
clothes ;  but  "  Havana"  cigars  and  "  imported"  wines  were  luxu- 
ries they  did  not  bring  with  them.  While  enjoying  a  social 
smoke  after  supper,  the  conversation  was  turned  upon  Van  Dorn's 
sudden  taking  off.  The  Confederate  officers  pretended  to  know 
nothing  of  it;  but  the  Union  officers  detailed  the  story  minutely, 
without  intimating  that  Peters  had  furnished  the  information, 
and  nonchalantly  pretended  that  the  Union  officers  knew  every 
thing  daily  occurring  at  Spring  Hill.  How  they  had  such  minute 
information,  was  a  puzzler  to  the  Confederate  officers;  and  so  to 
puzzle  them,  was  the  real  object  of  the  flag  of  truce.  Just  at 
midnight,  the  grey-coats  and  blue-coats  shook  hands  and  sepa- 
rated, each  party  returning  to  their  own  encampments. 

Sunday,  May  tenth,  was  a  beautiful  day,  and  closed  with  a 
brigade  dress  parade,  an  innovation  of  the  Regulations ;  which, 
probably,  did  not  occur  in  any  other  brigade  in  the  army.  The 
brigade  was  composed  of  the  gth  Ohio  battery  of  artillerv,  the 
Ninetv-Second,  96th,  and  ii5th  Illinois,  74th  Indiana,  and  4Oth 
Ohio  infantrv  regiment.  At  brigade  dress  parade,  one  regiment 
was  formed  on  the  right;  three  regiments  at  right  angles  with  the 
first,  the  right  of  the  line  resting  on  the  left  of  the  first;  the  fifth 
regiment  at  right  angles  with  the  three,  right  resting  on  the  left, 
forming  three  sides  of  a  square,  except  that  one  of  the  sides  was 
three  times  the  length  of  each  of  the  others.  The  music  of  all 
the  regiments  was  massed,  making  a  drum  corps  of  a  hundred 
drummers  and  filers;  and  at  the  command,  "  Music,  beat  off,"  the 
music,  at  slow  time,  the  Ninety-Second  Silver  Band  playing, 
marched  down  in  front  of  the  first  regiment,  wheeled  and  passed 
along  the  line  of  the  three  regiments,  wheeled  and  passed  the 
fifth  regiment.  They  marched  back  at  quick  time,  the  drum 
corps  of  a  hundred  all  playing.  Lieutenant  Lawver,  Brigade 
Adjutant,  would  then  command,  "  Attention,  battalions.  Shoul- 
der arms !  Prepare  to  open  ranks,  to  the  rear  open  order,  march !" 
The  ranks  opened,  and  aligned  the  commissioned  officers  in  front; 
the  Adjutant  took  his  position  in  front  of  the  center  of  the  line 
of  three  regiments,  and  commanded,  "  Present  arms!"  Coming 
to  an  "  about  face,"  he  would  salute  Colonel  Atkins,  the  Brigade 
Commander,  and  say :  "  Sir,  the  parade  is  formed."  The  Adju- 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  85 

tant  would  then  take  position  to  the  left  and  rear  of  the  Colonel ; 
and  the  Colonel,  acknowledging  the  salute,  would  draw  his  sword 
and  command,  "Battalions,  shoulder  arms!"  And  would  then 
go  through  with  the  entire  manual  of  arms  The  practical  diffi- 
culty of  the  command  of  execution  being  heard  at  the  same 
instant  by  so  large  a  body  of  troops,  was  obviated  by  a  little 
Yankee  ingenuity ;  while  not  able  to  hear  at  the  same  instant, 
they  were  able  to  see;  and  after  giving  the  preparatory  command, 
"  Shoulder,"  he  would  wait  abundantly  long  for  his  voice  to  be 
heard  by  the  flanks;  and  at  the  command  of  "Arms,"  the  left 
hand  of  the  Colonel  commanding  always  went  up  into  the  air; 
and  every  soldier  in  the  line  could  see  that  at  the  same  instant,  and 
the  manual  of  arms  was  executed  by  the  entire  brigade,  with  as 
exact  precision  as  it  was  ever  executed  by  a  squad  of  five  men. 
Officers  of  the  Regular  Army  looked  on,  and  Avondered  at  the 
precision  of  the  execution  of  the  manual  of  arms,  but  did  not 
detect  the  slight  of  hand  by  which  it  was  attained.  After  the 
manual  of  arms  had  been  executed,  brigade  orders  were  read  by 
the  Adjutant.  At  the  command,  "  Parade  dismissed,"  the  field 
officers  of  the  brigade  returned  swords,  closed  on  the  Adjutant, 
and  marched  up  to  salute  the  Brigade  Commander.  When  the 
field  officers  dispersed,  the  Captains  marched  their  companies  to 
quarters.  On  May  fourteenth,  the  Ninety-Second  was  again  on 
picket  south  of  Franklin.  On  the  nineteenth,  there  was  brigade 
drill,  for  the  first  time,  in  a  clover-field  north  of  Franklin.  On  the 
twenty-first,  there  was  another  brigade  drill,  General  Baird  being 
present.  On  the  twenty-second,  the  Regiment  was  called  up  at 
two  A.  M.,  and  ordered  to  be  ready  to  march  at  three  A.  M.,  but 
the  order  was  countermanded.  Brigade  drills  every  day,  until  the 
twentv-seventh,  when  orders  came  to  be  ready  to  march  at  three 
A.  M.,  with  two  days'  cooked  rations  and  seventy  rounds  of  am- 
munition. The  Regiment  was  ready,  and  waited  all  day  for  the 
order  to  "  march,"  but  none  came.  There  were  countless  rumors 
of  a  Rebel  attack  on  Triune. 

On  the  first  of  June,  the  sick  were  all  sent  to  Nashville.  On 
the  second,  there  were  orders  to  be  ready  to  march  at  three  A.  M., 
the  time  that  Granger  always  proposed  to  march;  but  the  Regi- 
ment waited  in  the  rain  until  Granger's  leisurely  breakfast  had 
been  eaten,  and  started  at  nine  o'clock  A.  M.  for  Triune.  It  was 
very  hot  and  showry,  the  dirt  roads  horrible  for  men  and  trains; 
the  men  lightened  up  their  loads,  by  throwing  away  extra  pairs  of 
shoes,  overcoats,  and  some  even  dress-coats  and  blankets.  It  was 


86  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

the  first  march  for  the  new,  old  Chaplain,  and  the  kind-hearted 
old  man  knew  the  boys  would  want  their  blankets  when  night 
came,  and  he  loaded  down  his  horse  with  as  many  as  his  horse 
could  carry.  After  reaching  camp,  he  called  the  boys  to  come 
and  get  their  blankets ;  but  the  Chaplain  did  not  have  blankets  for 
all  who  came;  and  it  is  said  that  he  did  not  have  one  for  himself 
that  night!  It  was  a  hard  march,  many  of  the  men  falling  out  bv 
the  way,  and  many  not  reaching  Triune  until  the  next  morning. 
The  next  day  there  was  cannonading  at  Franklin,  and  the  cavalry 
was  sent  back  there.  General  Granger  reviewed  the  remainder 
of  his  corps,  thirty  regiments  of  infantry,  and  thirty-six  pieces  of 
light  artillery.  It  was  Granger's  order  to  be  up  at  three  A.  M., 
daily,  and  stand  silently  in  line  of  battle  until  after  sunrise;  that 
order,  kept  up  for  months,  killed  more  men  of  his  corps  than  the 
Rebels  ever  did.  It  rained  on  the  fifth,  and  the  picket  firing  was 
continuous  all  day.  On  the  seventh,  the  cavalry  had  a  light 
skirmish,  and  the  Regiment  was  in  line  of  battle  from  morning 
until  night.  On  the  ninth,  the  Regiment  was  paid.  On  the 
eleventh,  Forrest  made  an  attack  on  Triune.  Atkins'  Brigade, 
holding  the  front,  was  promptly  in  line,  two  regiments  on  the 
right  of  the  road,  concealed  by  timber  and  underbrush,  with  a 
masked  battery,  an  open  clover  field  in  front,  through  which, 
about  one  hundred  yards  in  front  of  the  regiments,  the  water  had 
cut  a  deep  gully,  that  no  horse  could  leap  or  get  through.  For- 
rest was  leading  a  charge  of  Rebel  cavalry  over  the  open  field, 
right  in  the  direction  of  the  gully,  where  he  must  neces- 
sarily have  come  to  a  halt,  and  been  at  the  mercy  of  the 
masked  artillery  and  two. regiments  of  infantry,  that  had  been 
directed  not  to  fire  a  shot  until  the  Brigade  Commander  gave  the 
order.  At  this  juncture,  up  rode  Gordon  Granger,  and  ordered 
the  boys  to  fire.  The  commander  of  the  brigade  endeavored  to 
explain  to  Granger,  but  he  would  hear  nothing,  and  so  the  artil- 
lery opened  on  the  charging  column  before  it  had  come  within 
musket  range,  and  it  quickly  retreated.  If  Granger  had  been 
acquainted  with  the  ground  himself,  or  had  listened  to  the 
Colonel  commanding  the  brigade,  there  would  have  been  terrible 
slaughter  in  that  Rebel  column  when  it  reached  the  gully 
running  through  the  clover  field,  which  was  not  discernable 
twenty  feet  away,  but  an  effectual  barrier  to  horsemen,  where  the 
artillery  could  have  thrown  grape  and  canister,  and  two  regiments 
of  infantry,  at  short  range,  poured  in  a  musketry  fire.  As  it  was, 
the- artillery  killed  only  a  few  Rebels,  and  Forrest  and  most  of 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  87 

his  troops  rode  safely  away.  Granger  then  ordered  the  troops  to 
fire  on  our  own  skirmishers,  that  the  Brigade  Commander  had 
just  sent  out  to  a  brick  house,  on  the  left  of  the  road,  in  front  of 
the  line  of  battle,  but  the  men  knew  they  were  our  own  troops, 
and  refused  to  obey  his  order.  Granger  then  rode  off.  The 
Rebels  planted  a  section  of  artillery,  and  sent  their  shells  flying 
over  the  brigade.  Our  brigade  battery  of  artillery  replied,  and 
dismounted  one  of  the  Rebel  guns.  The  Rebels  soon  withdrew. 
There  were  no  losses  in  the  Ninety-Second.  The  newspapers 
reported  the  Rebel  loss  at  twenty-one  killed  and  seventy  wounded. 
One  laughable  incident  occurred.  The  camp  equippage  was 
quickly  loaded  in  wagons  and  moved  to  the  rear,  and  on  the  top 
of  one  wagon,  the  company  wagon  of  Company  I,  sat  a  little 
negro  on  a  knapsack  packed  with  clothing.  A  Rebel  shell 
knocked  the  knapsack  out  from  under  the  colored  boy,  without 
injuring  him  in  the  least;  but  he  was  terribly  frightened.  The 
mules  ware  too  slow  for  him  after  that,  and  he  went  to  the  rear 
on  foot  double  quick.  About  two  A.  M.  of  June  thirteenth,  a 
brigade  of  infantry,  and  a  force  of  cavalry,  prepared  to  march 
out  on  the  road  south  of  Triune,  General  Steedman  in  command, 
and 'blowing  of  the  bugles  in  the  cavalry  camp  aroused  all  the 
troops,  who  imagined  it  was  the  Rebel  cavalry.  At  three  P.  M., 
while  our  brigade  was  all  out  in  the  large  clover  field  drilling, 
the  firing  at  the  front  became  brisk,  and  the  whole  brigade 
received  orders  to  march  to  the  assistance  of  Steedman,  and 
moved  from  the  drill  ground  rapidly  four  miles  south  of  Triune, 
where  Steedman  was  met,  leisurely  falling  back,  with  only  a 
regiment  engaged  as  rear  guard,  skirmishing.  Steedman  said  he 
had  one  pretty  little  brush  with  them,  but  there  was  no  difficulty 
in  repulsing  the  enemy.  Returned  to  camp  after  dark,  and  were 
called  up  at  eleven  P.  M.  to  await  marching  orders,  and  waited 
until  after  daylight,  but  no  orders  came.  The  next  day,  Sunday, 
June  fourteenth,  there  was  inspection,  and  orders  received  to  keep 
constantly  on  hand  two  days'  cooked  rations,  and  sixty  rounds  ball 
cartridges  to  the  man.  This  order  kept  the  men  constantly  on 
cold  victuals,  and  sometimes  spoiled  victuals.  On  the  seventeenth, 
the  Ninety-Second  cut  down  the  timber  between  the  Shelbyville 
and  Murfresboro  pikes,  so  that  it  could  not  be  used  as  a  cover  by 
the  enemy.  On  the  twentieth,  there  was  a  scare,  and  pickets 
doubled,  but  no  attack  came.  On  June  twenty-third,  the  Regi- 
gent  marched  with  the  corps  from  Triune  at  daylight,  but  were 
delayed  by  wagon  trains,  and,  after  marching  twelve  miles, 


88  NINBTT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

camped  at  two  P.  M.  Marched  next  day  at  one  P.  M.,  in  hard  rain, 
and  at  one  o'clock  at  night  bivouaced  on  the  Shelbyville  pike,  at 
Walnut  Church.  Willich's  Brigade  took  Liberty  Gap,  and 
Wilder's  Brigade  took  Hoover's  Gap  from  the  Rebels,  and  we 
marched  all  the  afternoon  to  the  music  of  heavy  cannonading. 
The  rain  was  continuous  night  and  day.  The  next  day,  the 
twenty-fifth,  inarched  but  a  mile,  standing  in  line  all  day,  listen- 
ing to  the  continuous  roar  of  artillery  in  the  distance.  Sent  the 
knapsacks  and  surplus  trumpery  to  Murfresboro,  to  lighten  the 
loads  of  the  men.  Remained  at  Walnut  Church  all  the  next 
day,  cannonading  heavy  at  the  fort.  On  the  twenty-seventh, 
moved  at  twelve  M.  down  the  .Shelbyville  pike  to  Guy's  Gap. 
The  cavalry,  under  command  of  General  Mitchell,  had  the 
advance,  and  charged  into  Shelbyville  at  five  P.  M.,  capturing  five 
hundred  and  five  prisoners  and  two  pieces  of  artillery.  On  the 
twenty-eighth,  the  Ninety-Second  guarded  the  Rebel  prisoners, 
marching  eight  miles  toward  Murfresboro,  and  turned  over 
the  prisoners  to  the  96th  Illinois.  Captain  Espy,  of  the  H5th 
Illinois,  Commissary  on  the  staff 'of  the  Colonel  commanding 
the  brigade,  was  notified  of  the  coming  of"  the  Rebel  prisoners, 
and  issued  rations  to  them,  and  in  the  kindness  of  his  heart,  even 
prepared  hot  coffee  for  them  in  large  plantation  kettles.  How 
different  from  the  treatment  of  our  soldiers  in  the  hands  of  the 
enemy  at  Andersonville!  The  kind-hearted,  gallant  Captain 
Espy  lost  his  life  afterward,  at  Chicamauga.  On  the  twenty- 
ninth,  the  Ninety-Second  joined  the  brigade,  four  miles  north  of 
Shelbyville.  On  the  thirtieth,  marched  through  Shelbyville,  and 
camped  one  mile  south  of  the  town,  on  Duck  River,  and  was 
mustered  for  pay.  On  the  first  of  July,  moved  a  mile  and  went 
into  permanent  camp.  The  Colonel  of  the  Ninety-Second  learn- 
ed of  the  probability  that  General  Baird  would  leave  the  divi- 
sion, and,  desiring  himself  to  get  out  from  under  the  command 
of  General  Gordon  Granger,  he  earnestly  sought  the  influence  of 
Colonel  Arthur  C.  Ducat,  Inspector  General  oi'  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  whom  he  had  been  intimately  acquainted  with 
while  they  were  serving  together  under  Grant,  at  Cairo;  and  of 
Colonel  Simmons,  Commissary  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland, 
who  had  served  with  the  Colonel  of  the  Ninety-Second  on  the 
staff  of  General  Hurlbut  in  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee;  and  of 
Colonel  John  W.  Taylor,  the  Chief  Quartermaster  of  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland,  who  was  a  brother  of  the  law  partner  of  the 
Colonel  of  the  Ninety-Second,  to  induce  General  Rosecrans  to 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  89 

detach  the  Ninety-Second  from  the  reserve  corps  of  General 
Granger,  and  attach  it  to  some  active  command  at  the  front;  and 
he  received  the  assurance  of  the  gentlemen  named  that  they  would 
use  their  influence  with  General  Rosecrans  to  obtain  such  an 
order.  On  the  third  of  July,  the  Ninety-Second  marched  at  two 
o'clock  P.  M.  to  Wartrace,  eight  miles,  on  the  Nashville  and 
Chattanooga  Railroad,  through  a  terrible  rain  storm,  the  water  in 
the  mountain  roads  being,  frequently,  two  feet  deep.  From  an 
old  letter  written  by  a  member  of  the  Ninety-Second,  from 
Wartrace,  we  extract  the  following:  "It  was  given  to  Stokes' 
regiment,  under  the  command  of  Major  Gilbraith,  to  lead  the 
charge  into  Shelbyville.  Major  Gilbraith's  family  lived  in  that 
town.  At  it  thev  went  with  a  rush  and  a  yell,  dashing  into  town, 
cutting,  shooting,  and  killing.  The  Rebels  were  so  hard  pressed 
that,  for  all  to  cross  the  bridge  over  Duck  River,  was  impossible. 
Many  rushed  for  the  ford  above,  the  Union  cavalry  on  their 
heels,  and  into  the  river  the  Rebels  plunged,  which,  being  high 
from  recent  rains,  was  difficult  to  cross,  and  between  fifty  and  a 
hundred  of  the  Rebels  were  drowned.  Our  boys  pulled  out  quite 
;i  number  of  the  dead  Confederate  soldiers  two  days  afterward, 
and  gave  them  decent  burial.  Stokes'  regiment  were  fighting 
for  their  own  homes  and  firesides.  Such  meetings  of  old  friends 
in  Shelbyville  never  occurred  there  before.  Men,  women  and 
children  were  kissing  and  embracing  each  other  in  the  streets, 
while  tears  rolled  down  their  cheeks,  until  the  stoutest  heart 
would  melt  away  in  like  feelings.  To  see  men,  old  and  young, 
embracing  and  hugging  each  other,  was  a  common  occurrence. 
For  several  davs  after  their  deliverance,  refugees  who  had  sought 
shelter  and  protection  at  the  North  for  a  year  or  more,  returned  to 
their  homes  and  families.  O,  such  meetings  and  greetings  as  I 
there  witnessed  is  worth  a  year  of  the  hard  life  of  a  soldier. 
Bedford  county,  of  which  Shelbyville  is  the  capital, 'is  largely 
Union,  and  it  is  due  to  the  efforts  of  Mr.  Edmund  Cooper,  an 
influential,  patriotic  and  able  lawyer  of  Shelbyville,  that  so  many 
citizens  of  Bedford  county  have  remained  true  and  faithful  to  the 
Union.  Bragg  made  his  head-quarters  there,  and  during  the 
reign  of  terror  the  Union  people  suffered  beyond  the  power  of 
iny  description.  The  Fourth  of  July  has  been  made  perpetual  there 
every  day  since  our  troops  broke  the  shackles,  and  Union  flag*, 
long  sewn  up  in  quilts,  are  brought  out  and  deck  the  town. 
Platforms  are  erected,  and  speeches  are  made  by  citizens  and 
«oldiers  daily,  while  the  Court  House  square  is  packed  full 
11 


90  NINBTT-SBCOND    ILLINOIS. 

of  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  Shelbyville,  waving  flags  and 
handkerchiefs,  and  singing  Union  songs.  The  emotions,  the 
rejoicings,  the  joyful  demonstrations,  the  bursting  out  of  long 
pent  up  feelings,  are  as  boundless  as  the  ocean,  and  no  pen  can 
picture  the  real  happiness  of  the  citizens.  Long  live  Shelbj-ville. 
It  is  the  general  opinion  that  Bragg  would  have  been  bagged  if 
the  weather  had  not  been  so  continuously  rainy ;  and  now  he  is 
away  down  at  Chattanooga,  with  a  demoralized  army,  trying  to 
get  up  into  Kentucky  by  the  way  of  Knoxville.  The  Rebels 
burned  all  the  bridges  over  Duck  River,  and  also  over  Elk  River: 
but  the  first  are  up  again,  and  the  others  will  be  before  this  letter 
reaches  you." 

July  fourth  was  celebrated  by  a  cessation  of  all  ordi nan- 
duties,  and  most  of  the  men  went  black-berrying,  and  found  the 
most  lucious  blackberries  in  the  greatest  abundance  in  the  "old 
fields"  about  Wartrace.  The  Colonel  of  the  Ninety-Second 
dined  with  Captain  Hicks,  of  the  96th  Illinois.  Many  patriotic 
speeches  were  made.  On  Sunday,  the  fifth,  there  was  preaching 
and  black-berrying.  On  the  sixth,  the  Ninety-Second  marched 
seven  miles,  under  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets,  to 
Duck  River,  and  engaged  in  building  a  wagon  bridge  across  that 
stream  at  Rouseville.  Colonel  Wilder  came  along,  and,  fancying 
the  Ninety-Second,  declared  his  determination  to  have  it  detached 
from  the  reserve  corps,  and  assigned  to  his  brigade  of  mounted 
infantry.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  men  of  the  Ninety-Second 
were  overjoyed  with  the  hope  that  Wilder  might  be  successful  in 
his  application.  Apples  and  blackberries  were  abundant,  and 
details  were  made  to  gather  them,  while  the  work  of  building  the 
bridge  progressed,  which  was  completed  on  the  ninth.  Colonel 
Wilder's  application  was  supplemental  to  the  request  of  the 
Colonel  df  the  Ninety-Second,  and  was  successful,  and  General 
Rosecrans  detached  the  Ninety-Second  from  General  Gordon 
Granger's  corps,  and  assigned  it  to  Wilder's  brigade  of  mounted 
infantry.  On  the  tenth,  the  Regiment  returned  to  Wartrace,  and 
there  was  great  excitement  among  all  the  troops  to  be  mounted. 
The  4Oth  Ohio,  officers  and  men,  joined  in  a  petition  to  Colonel 
Atkins  to  have  that  regiment  mounted.  On  the  eleventh,  a  detail 
was  sent  to  Murfresboro  for  horses,  and  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Sheets  went  to  Nashville  to  procure  equipments.  In  a  letter 
home,  written  at  Wartrace,  July  i6th,  1863,  a  soldier  of  the 
Ninety-Second  writes:  "The  Ninety-Second  is  no  longer  first 
regiment,  first  brigade,  first  division,  reserve  army  corps, 


NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  91 

but  has  been  detached,  by  special  order  of  General  Rosecrans, 
making  a  special  selection  of  the  Ninety-Second,  without  any 
solicitation  or  knowledge  on  our  part.  Nothing  but  the  good 
reputation  we  bear  could  have  secured  to  us  this  high  and  hon- 
ored position.  The  Spencer  Repeating  Rifle  is  the  arm  we  are 
to  use.  With  the  Spencer  Rifle  one  hundred  men  are  as  effect- 
ive as  five  hundred  with  the  Enfield.  Our  saddles  are  here. 
Four  hundred  and  forty  horses  will  be  here  by  noon ;  and  four 
companies  are  now  over  Duck  River,  under  charge  of  that  excel- 
lent and  efficient  officer  and  gentleman,  Captain  Horace  J.  Smith, 
of  Oregon.  Six  companies  are  here  waiting  for  the  equipments 
which  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets,  now  at  Nashville,  is  pushing 
forward  as  rapidly  as  possible.  You  may  expect  to  hear  of  sharp 
work  from  us  soon,  as  our  position  (mounted  infantry)  will  keep 
us  to  the  front  of  the  invincible  and  advancing  Army  of  the 
Cumberland."  On  the  nineteenth,  the  Ninety-Second,  under  the 
command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets,  made  its  first  march  on 
horseback,  seven  miles  to  Duck  River,  and  joined  Wilder's 
brigade.  Colonel  Atkins  was  ordered,  by  telegraphic  dispatch 
from  General  Gordon  Granger,  to  remain  in  command  of  the 
brigade  of  infantry,  which  he  had  commanded  more  than  six 
months.  He  took  the  position  that  none  but  a  department  com- 
mander could  issvie  such  an  order,  and  as  the  department  com- 
mander had  detached  his  Regiment  from  the  reserve  corps,  he 
was  also  detached  from  that  corps,  and  on  the  twenty-first,  dis- 
regarding Granger's  order,  he  turned  over  the  command  Qf  the 
brigade  to  Colonel  T.  E.  Champion,  of  the  96th  Illinois^  and 
himself  joined  the  Ninety-Second,  and  assumed  command  of  the 
Regiment.  On  the  twenty- second,  a  detail  of  two  hundred 
mounted  men  was  ordered  from  the  Ninety-Second  to  report  to 
Colonel  John  J.  Funkhouser,  of  the  gSth  Illinois  mounted  in- 
fantrv,  to  scout  along  Duck  River,  and  pick  up  animals  and  able- 
bodied  contrabands.  Colonel  Atkins  took  command  of  the  detail, 
and  reported  to  Colonel  Funkhouser  the  entire  detail  under 
Colonel  Funkhouser,  amounting  to  six  hundred.  On  the  twenty- 
fifth,  three  hundred  and  eighty  horses  arrived  from  Nashville  for 
the  Ninety-Second.  On  the  twenty-sixth,  at  two  P.  M.,  the 
Regiment  marched,  with  Wilder's  brigade,  fifteen  miles,  to 
Tullahoma.  On  the  twentv-seventh,  marched  to  Dechard,  with 
brigade,  and  joined  division  of  Major  General  J.  J.  Reynolds,  4th 
division,  i4th  army  corps,  Major  General  George  H.  Thomas 
commanding.  On  the  twenty-eighth,  Colonel  Atkins  returned 


*8  N1NBTT-SBCOND   ILLINOIS. 

with  captured  animals.  The  detail  had  a  gala  time  of  it;  the 
column  marched  west,  on  the  north  side  of  Duck  River,  through 
Shelbyville,  and  as  far  west  as  Hickman  county,  capturing  all 
the  horses  and  mules  and  able-bodied  contrabands  in  the  country. 
Scouting  parties  were  sent  bv  Colonel  Funkhouser  along  the 
south  side  of  the  river,  capturing  all  they  could,  but  moving 
rapidly,  and  spreading  the  report  that  thev  were  the  advance  of  a 
column  marching  west  on  the  south  of  the  river.  The  citizens 
would  gather  up  their  stock  and  contrabands,  and  make  for  the 
north  side  of  Duck  River,  to  escape  capture,  and  run  into  the  very 
column  they  were  attempting  to  escape.  The  results  of  the 
expedition  were  the  capture  of  fiftv  Rebel  soldiers,  found  home 
on  furlough ;  between  sixteen  and  seventeen  huridred  horses  and 
mules,  the  horses  to  mount  our  men  upon,  the  mules  for  the 
wagon  trains;  and  eight  hundred  able-bodied  negroes,  for  muster 
into  a  colored  regiment.  On  the  thirtieth,  the  camp  was  moved 
to  better  grounds,  the  camp  regularly  laid  out,  policed  and  adorned 
with  evergreens.  The  strictest  discipline  was  enforced.  A 
soldier,  in  his  diary,  under  date  of  July  thirty-first,  1863,  writes: 
"  Not  much  of  anything  to  do,  but  water,  feed,  groom  and  graze 
our  horses.  In  the  evening  \ve  had  dress  parade,  bv  Regiment, 
when  something  less  than  a  thousand  orders  were  read  to  us, 
concerning  roll-call,  drills,  feeding  and  watering  our  horses,  and  a 
great  many  other  things  too  numerous  to  mention.  They  were 
so  arranged  as  to  keep  a  soldier  busy  every  hour  in  the  day,  from 
half  past  four  in  the  morning  until  nine  o'clock  at  night.  This 
we  find  to  be  the  effect  of  lying  in  camp,  where  the  officers  have 
nothing  to  do  but  manufacture  orders."  The  Regiment  was  all 
mounted,  and  on  the  first  of  August,  all  the  Spencers  not  in  use 
in  the  other  regiments  of  Wilder's  brigade  were  turned  over  to 
the  Ninety-Second,  enough  to  arm  three  companies,  and  the 
lucky  companies  getting  them  were  D,  E  and  F.  In  the  forenoon 
of  the  second,  there  was  inspection ;  in  the  afternoon,  regimental 
drill ;  in  the  evening,  dress  parade.  The  soldiers  did  not  fancy 
the  drill  and  discipline,  especially  as  the  other  regiments  of 
mounted  infantry  paid  no  attention  to  drill,  discipline  or  cleanli- 
ness of  camp,  and  a  soldier,  in  his  diary,  writes:  "This  is  what 
makes  the  thing  military."  The  blacksmiths  were  busy  shoeing 
and  branding  the  captured  animals.  On  the  fourth  of  August, 
the  Regiment  held  its  first  inspection  on  horseback.  The  sixth 
was  observed  as  a  day  of  thanksgiving,  agreeably  to  the  procla- 
mation of  the  President,  and  the  thanksgiving  dinners  were 


NINETT-SRCOND    ILLINOIS.  93 

composed  of  green  corn,  "  sow-belly  "  and  "  Uncle  Abe's  plat- 
form," as  the  boys  called  the  "  hard-tack."  The  Regiment  was 
addressed  by  the  Chaplain  and  Colonel.  The  weather  contiuned 
intensely  hot;  on  the  ninth,  a  soldier  was  sun-struck  while  on 
duty ;  on  the  thirteenth,  a  soldier  writes  in  his  diary :  "  I  was 
again  detailed  on  head-quarter's  guard,  and  to-day  had  to  stay 
around  to  salute  officers.  It  is  certainly  very  disgusting  to  have 
to  walk  backwards  and  forwards  on  a  beat  when  the  sun  pours 
down  as  hot  as  it  does  in  this  climate,  and  at  this  time  of  the 
year,  and  see  the  red  tape,  the  military  pomp,  the  West  Pointism 
that  is  put  on  at  our  regimental  head-quarters.  In  the  after- 
noon, it  rained,  making  it  a  great  deal  more  agreeable  and 
pleasant,  as  it  was  not  so  hot,  and  there  were  not  so  many  officers 
strutting  around."  Rations  and  forage  were  scarce,  as  "  Rosy  " 
was  using  all  the  cars  to  get  up  hard-tack  and  ammunition  for  a 
move.  The  men  went  foraging  for  their  animals  and  themselves, 
but  the  country  was  soon  stripped ;  no  matter,  the  army  was  pre- 
paring to  leave  it. 


94  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  CAMPAIGN  AGAINST  CHATTANOOGA — OVER  THE  CUMBER- 
LAND MOUNTAINS — ARTILLERY  PRACTICE  AT  HARRISON'S 
LANDING — FIRST  SCOUT  ON  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN — LEADING 
THE  ARMY  OF  THE  CUMBERLAND  INTO  CHATTANOOGA — CA- 
TAWBA  WINE — FIGHTING  FORREST  AT  RINGGOLD,  GEORGIA 
— REBEL  SPIES  PRETENDING  TO  BE  DESERTERS — GORDON'S 
MILL — MARCHING  DOWN  LOOKOUT  MOUNTAIN  IN  THE  STORM 
AND  DARKNESS — SCOUTING  ALONG  THE  CHICAMAUGA  BE- 
FORE THE  BATTLE — THE  BATTLE  OF  CHICAMAUGA — How 
McCooK's  CORPS  WAS  SURPRISED  AND  ROUTED — BACK  TO 
HARRISON'S  LANDING — A  DYING  WOMAN — BACK  AGAIN 
OVER  THE  CUMBERLAND  MOUNTAINS — CAPERTON'S  FERRY — 
OFF  FOR  HUNTSVILLE — JUDGE  HAMMOND'S  PLANTATION — 
THE  COLD  NEW  YEAR'S  NIGHT,  1864— PULASKI,  TENN. — 
BACK  TO  HUNTSVILLE — SKIRMISH  AT  BAINBRIDGE  FERRY — 
FIGHT  AT  SWEETWATER — TRIANNA — SCOUTING  ALONG  TIIK 
TENNESSEE — DETACHED  FROM  WILDER'S  BRIGADE. 

Sunday  morning,  August  sixteenth,  1863,  General  Rosecrans' 
army,  that,  since  the  advance  on  Tullahoma  and  Shelbyville,  had 
been  scattered  in  camps  about  Dechard  and  Winchester,  north  of 
the  Cumberland  Mountains,  pushed  out  after  Bragg,  whose  head- 
quarters were  then  at  Chattanooga,  south  of  the  Tennessee  River. 
The  main  army  marched  to  Stevenson,  and  crossed  the  Tennessee 
at  Bridgeport  and  Caperton's  Ferry,  and  swung  off  through  the 
mountain  gorges,  to  the  south  and  west  of  the  Rebel  strong- 
hold. Wilder's  brigade  of  mounted  infantry,  Minty's  brigade  of 
cavalry,  and  Wagner's  brigade  of  infantry,  crossed  the  Cumberland 
range  into  the  Tennessee  valley  north  of  Chattanooga,  with  orders 
to  demonstrate  stronglv,  as  if  contemplating  a  crossing,  at  every 
ford  and  ferrv  on  the  Tennessee.  At  eleven  A.  M.,  the  Regiment 
marched,  with  Wilder's  brigade,  toward  the  mountain  that  loomed 
up  in  the  distance,  and,  in  a  heavy  thunder-shower,  climbed  up  its 
side  over  a  rocky  road,  down  which  the  water  rushed  and  roared, 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  95 

and,  after  marching  twelve  miles,  camped  at  University  Place,  on 
the  mountain-top  The  town  is  celebrated  for  its  mineral  springs, 
and  as  being  the  seat  of  the  college  over  which  Bishop  Polk,  of 
Tennessee,  at  that  time  a  Confederate  Major  General  in  Bragg's 
army,  had  presided.  There  were  many  beautiful  residences  in 
the  place; among  them  Bishop  Folk's,  and  the  mountain  village 
had  been  quite  a  resort  in  summer  for  Southern  people.  A  sol- 
dier, on  the  seventeenth,  writes  in  his  diary :  "This  morning  I 
took  my  horse  to  graze  on  a  spot  high  enough  to  overlook  the 
valley  below.  Beneath  where  I  stood,  over  the  valley  hung  a 
heavy  cloud,  and  where  it  hung,  no  portion  of  the  valley  could  be 
seen;  and,  looking  from  above  on  the  clouds  beneath  me,  I  com- 
pared the  scene  to  a  storm-tossed  ocean.  One  cloud  would  be 
higher  than  another,  and  all  in  constant  motion,  like  the  changing 
billows  of  the  sea3  and  all  moving  slowly  down  the  valley.  Such 
a  beautiful  sight  of  the  marvelous  works  of  nature  I  never  be- 
fore looked  upon.  By  and  by,  as  the  sun  approached  the  zenith, 
the  clouds  lifted  higher  and  higher,  until  I  could  see  the  long 
winding  valley,  as  it  stretched  far  off  in  the  distance.  It  looked 
to  me  like  the  prettiest  land  in  the  world,  and  as  if  the  happiest 
people  on  earth  might  reside  there.  But,  alas!  when  I  marched 
through  the  valley,  how  different  the  scene !  Deserted  log  cab- 
ins, a  few  only  occupied  by  negroes  that  lived  as  best  they 
could.  War  had  laid  its  destructive  hand  upon  the  valley.  Hu- 
man habitations  were  deserted,  and  even  the  birds  refused  to  sing, 
and  nothing  was  heard  but  the  neighing  of  horses,  braying  of 
mules,  the  rumble  of  cannon  wheels  and  wagon  trains."  On  the 
seventeenth,  the  Regiment  marched  about  twenty  miles,  and 
camped,  still  on  the  mountain.  On  the  eighteenth,  marched 
early,  passed  Tracy  City,  a  coal-mining  town,  and  again  camped 
on  the  mountain.  Marched  at  seven  o'clock,  on  the  morning  ot 
the  nineteenth,  and,  a  little  after  noon,  descended  into  the  Se- 
quatchie  Valley.  On  going  down  the  mountain,  the  advance  had 
a  brisk  little  skirmish  with  the  enemy,  and  camped  early.  Com- 
pany A  was  on  picket  on  the  Jasper  road,  and  was  fired  upon  by 
the  enemy,  when  Colonel  Wilder  sent  out  four  companies  of  the 
1 7th  Indiana,  who  killed  one,  and  wounded  one,  of  the  enemy 
and  captured  eight  prisoners.  Another  party,  sent  out  by  Colonel 
Wilder  on  another  road,  surprised  a  party  of  Rebel  conscript 
officers  in  a  church,  killed  two,  wounded  four,  and  captured 
twenty ;  among  them  eight  Union  men,  three  of  whom  had  been 
sentenced  to  be  shot  the  next  dav,  but  whose  lives  were  saved  by 


96  NINBTT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

the  whole  party  being  captured  by  the  Yankees.  These  moun- 
tainous regions  were  full  of  Union  men,  and  the  vilest  scum  of 
the  Rebel  army  was  sent  to  conscript  them  into  the  Rebel  ser- 
vice. The  atrocities  committed  by  the  conscripting  parties 
surpassed  belief.  They  were  too  cowardly  to  fight  in  battle,  but 
ferociously  brutal  toward  the  defenseless  Union  men  who  fell 
into  their  power.  The  Union  men  in  the  mountain  regions 
of  Tennessee  carried  their  lives  in  their  hands.  On  the  twen- 
tieth, two  companies  of  the  Ninety-Second  were  sent  back  to 
Tracy  City  to  guard  the  supply  trains.  The  mountain  is  about 
twenty-five  hundred  feet  high,  and  it  is  two  miles  up  the  steep 
and  winding  road  from  the  valley  to  the  mountain  top.  On  the 
twenty-first,  the  brigade  crossed  Walden's  Ridge,  a  continuation 
of  Lookout  Mountain  on  the  north  side  of  the  river,  and  camped 
at  Poe's  Tavern,  in  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee.  The  scenery, 
from  the  top  of  Walden's  Ridge  above  Poe's  Tavern,  is  very 
beautiful.  Below  lies  the  valley  of  the  Tennessee,  some  ten 
miles  broad,  through  which  the  river  winds  like  a  thread  of 
silver;  off  to  the  south  lies  the  city  of  Chattanooga,  twelve  miles 
distant.  As  the  Regiment  commenced  descending,  a  party  of 
officers  dismounted,  and  standing  on  a  jutting  rock  that  appar- 
ently was  overhanging  the  valley,  thev  could,  with  a  field  glass, 
plainly  see  the  streets  of  Chattanooga,  swarming  with  the 
army  wagons  of  Bragg's  army.  On  the  river,  ten  miles  above 
the  city,  was  seen  a  little  steamer,  flying  the  Confederate  flag, 
slowly  moving  northward.  The  day  was  beautiful,  and  the 
officers  lingered  until  shouts  in  the  valley  called  them  to 
join  the  Regiment.  On  the  twenty-second,  Colonel  Wilder 
marched  down  the  valley  toward  Chattanooga,  leaving  the 
Ninety-Second  and  two  pieces  of  rifled  artillery  to  scout  the 
country,  and  demonstrate  at  the  fords  and  ferries  above  and  be- 
low Dallas,  on  the  Tennessee.  The  Regiment  marched  to  Har- 
rison's Landing.  A  Rebel  picket  was  found  on  the  top  of  the  hill 
where  the  road  commences  to  descend  to  the  Tennessee  River, 
but  rapidly  fell  back,  and  crossed  in  a  flat-boat  to  the  other  side. 
The  enemv  had  a  fort  on  the  hill,  back  some  distance  from  the 
water-front,  in  which  were  mounted  three  pieces  of  artillery ;  and 
close  to  the  bank  of  the  river  were  rifle  pits,  along  the  top  of 
which  the  gray-coated  soldiers  were  leisurely  pacing.  A  large 
frame  house  stood  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  on  the  side  occupied 
bv  the  Ninety-Second,  in  the  vard  of  which  the  Colonel  stood, 
examining  the  Rebel  works  across  the  river  with  hi?  glass,  when 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  97 

the  Rebel  officer  of  the  day,  with  his  sash  across  his  shoulder, 
rode  down  the  hill  from  the  fort,  rapidly  dismounted  and  kneeled 
under  a  tree,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  and  the  Colonel 
was  endeavoring  to  discover  what  he  was  doing,  when  a  puff  of 
white  smoke  informed  him  that  the  Rebel  officer  was  firing  a  rifle, 
and  soon  after  the  leaden  messenger  passed  over  the  Colonel, 
through  the  side  of  the  house,  and  through  the  arm  of  William 
C.  Patterson,  a  member  of  Company  D,  the  first  soldier  in  the 
Ninety-Second  to  be  hit  by  the  enemy.  The  men  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  took  position  along  the  river's  edge,  and,  concealed  by 
the  undergrowth,  opened  a  fire  on  the  sentries  leisurely  pacing  on 
top  of  the  Rebel  rifle-pits,  who  quit  marching  their  beats.  The 
Enfields  would  not  carry  across  the  river  without  a  double 
charge  of  powder,  but  the  Spencers,  with  which  three  companies 
were  armed,  carried  over  very  accurately.  The  men  of  the 
Ninety-Second  had  the  advantage ;  they  were  concealed  from  the 
view  of  the  enemy  by  the  undergrowth  along  the  river's  edge, 
and  their  position  could  only  be  guessed  by  the  puff  of  white 
smoke  from  their  rifles;  while,  if  the  enemy  put  their  heads 
above  the  bare  earth-work  they  were  behind,  they  made  fair 
marks  for  our  men.  After  practicing  at  long  range  across  the 
Tennessee  for  an  hour,  the  Regiment  withdrew  and  returned  to 
the  vicinity  pf  Poe's  Tavern.  A  scouting  party  up  the  river 
found  a  small  Rebel  steamer  concealed  in  a  creek,  and  burned  it. 
On  Sunday,  August  twenty-third,  the  Ninety-Second  lay  in 
camp,  listening  to  the  guns  of  Wilder,  Minty,  and  Wagner,  shel- 
ling Chattanooga  from  the  north  side  of  the  river.  On  the  next 
day,  the  Ninety-Second  returned  to  Harrison's  Landing,  and 
planted  two  pieces  of  artillery  on  the  hill;  the  three  cannon  of 
the  enemy  in  their  fort  were  plainly  discernable,  the  Rebel  gun- 
ners sitting  on  the  parapet,  smoking  and  whittling,  out  of  the 
range  of  musketry.  The  enemy  had  cut  hazel  brush  and 
willows,  and  thickly  covered  the  top  of  their  rifle-pits  at  the 
water-front  with  them.  We  could  not  see  their  heads  when  they 
fired  as  we  could  before,  when  the  earth-work  was  bare.  The 
Lieutenant  of  the  artillery  was  a  long  time  in  getting  ready,  and 
when  the  Colonel  urged  him  to  hurry  up,  and  give  them  a  few 
shots,  the  Lieutenant  said  he  was  waiting  to  get  the  range;  he 
wanted  a  man  to  stand  up  on  the  parapet  of  the  Rebel  fort,  and 
let  him  look  at  him  through  a  little  brass  instrument  the  Lieu- 
tenant held  in  his  hand,  by  which  he  could  tell  the  distance 
within  a  few  feet.  An  accommodating  Rebel  soon  stood  up  for  a 


98  NINETT-SBCOND    ILLINOIS. 

moment,  and  the  Lieutenant  sighted  him  with  his  instrument, 
took  out  a  paper  and  figured  a  while  with  a  pencil,  carefully  cut 
two  shells,  and  loaded  his  pieces,  sighted  them,  apparently  at  the 
sky,  and  let  them  both  off  at  once.  The  smoke  cleared  away, 
and  not  a  gun  or  Rebel  could  be  seen  again  about  that  fort. 
The  Colonel  tried  his  hand  at  sighting  artillery.  The  first  shell 
he  fired  went  into  the  Tennessee  River ;  the  second  bursted  in  the 
air  far  beyond  the  Rebel  fort.  He  gave  it  up,  and  the  Lieuten- 
ant of  artillery  kept  up  the  firing  leisurely  for  an  hour  or  more, 
the  enemy  not  replying.  It  was  not  known  then  what  injury  our 
artillery  had  done,  but  a  copy  of  the  Daily  Chattanooga  Rebel, 
printed  the  next  day,  contained  a  statement  that  the  first  two 
shots,  fired  with  so  much  care  by  the  Lieutenant  of  artillery, 
had  dismounted  one  of  the  Rebel  guns,  and  killed  four  Rebel 
soldiers.  The  Regiment  moved  up  to  Dallas,  and  let  fly  a  few 
shots  from  the  artillery  at  a  Rebel  picket  post  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  ferry,  and  scattered  it  into  the  woods  out  of  range, 
when  the  command  returned  to  the  Chattanooga  road,  a  few 
miles  south  of  Poe's  Tavern,  and  encamped,  and  lay  there, 
scouting  to  the  various  ferries  along  the  Tennessee  River,  until 
the  fourth  of  September.  Men  and  animals  subsisted  entirely 
upon  the  country,  and  the  only  food  procurable  was  green  corn, 
unripe  sweet  potatoes,  and  green  peaches,  and  as  the  men  were 
generally  in  bad  health  when  leaving  Dechard,  there  was  fear 
that  their  diet  would  soon  put  the  entire  Regiment  into  the  hospi- 
tal ;  but  directly  the  reverse  was  true ;  their  vegetable  diet  agreed 
with  them,  and  by  the  fourth  of  September  the  men  of  the  Regi- 
ment were  in  robust  health.  The  enemy  at  Harrison's  Landing 
would  sometimes  send  over  the  ferry  boat  after  daylight,  and, 
occasionally,  a  squad  of  Rebel  horsemen,  who  would  come  out 
to  our  pickets,  fire  a  shot  or  two,  and  hasten  back.  One  morning, 
at  one  o'clock,  a  detail  went  to  Harrison's  with  instructions  to 
dismount,  and  approach  through  the  woods,  dividing  in  two 
parties,  one  some  distance  from  the  Landing,  and  one  near  it,  and 
to  keep  concealed  in  the  thickets.  Soon  after  sunrise  the  con- 
cealed men  heard  the  Rebels  hallooing  across,  and  they  were 
soon  answered  by  the  women  in  the  house,  at  the  Landing,  waving 
a  handkerchief,  the  signal,  that  no  Yanks  were  about.  Six  horse- 
men, and  a  few  dismounted  men,  soon  entered  the  flat-boat  and 
paddled  slowly  across  the  river.  The  Rebel  horsemen  mounted 
and  rode  up  to  the  house,  conversed  with  the  women,  and  cau- 
tiously kept  on  up  the  road,  when  the  party  below  them  stepped 


NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  99 

into  the  road  behind  them,  and  another  party  in  front  of  them. 
They  saw  they  were  trapped,  and  did  not  attempt  to  fight,  but 
quieth'  surrendered.  The  men  then  charged  for  the  ferry  boat, 
but  the  Rebels  in  it  shoved  it  from  shore,  laid  down,  and  paddled 
with  one  hand  over  the  side  of  the  flat-boat ;  it  floated  off  down 
the  river,  slowly  making  for  the  other  shore.  The  house  on  the 
river  bank  caught  fire  and  burned  down.  On  the  third  of  Sep- 
tember, 1863,  company  K  was  on  picket  duty  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  Tennessee  River,  opposite  Harrison's  Landing;  the  enemy, 
in  their  rifle-pits,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  kept  up  a  pro- 
miscuous firing.  Company  K  replied  with-spirit,  wounding,  as  the 
company  believed,  many  of  the  gray-coats.  In  the  firing,  James 
Mullarky,  a  brave  and  faithfull  soldier  of  Company  K,  was 
wounded,  being  the  second  man  in  the  Ninety-Second  to  be  hit 
with  Rebel  lead,  and  he  still  carries  the  'Rebel  musket-ball  in  his 
arm.  On  the  fourth  of  September,  the  Ninety-Second  reported 
to  Colonel  Wilder,  near  Chattanooga,  and  found  that  it  had  been 
ordered  to  report  to  General  Thomas,  for  scouting  duty,  he  hav- 
ing no  mounted  men  with  him,  all  being  with  Wilder  and  Minty 
on  the  left  of  the  army,  or  with  McCook  on  the  right.  The  Regi- 
ment, with  two  brass  guns,  moved  immediately  to  Thurman, 
where  Major  Bohn,  with  Companies  I  and  H,  with  wagon  train, 
joined  th,e  Regiment.  Moved  early  the  next  morning,  marched 
twenty-two  miles  down  the  Sequatchie  valley.  The  valley  is 
usually  not  more  than  three  or  four  miles  wide,  and  walled  in  by 
very  high  and  exceedingly  abrupt  mountain  ranges,  the  bare 
rocky  walls,  in  places,  rising  twenty-five  hundred  feet  above  the 
valley ;  the  river  is  a  beautiful  mountain  stream,  and  the  bottom 
lands  very  fertile.  It  seems  to  be  the  natural  home  of  the 
weeping  willow,  and  the  most  beautiful  specimens  of  that  grace- 
ful tree  were  seen,  some  of  them  of  enormous  growth,  their  long 
pendant  branches  nearlv  sweeping  the  earth.  Camped  at  Jasper. 
Marched  at  daylight  next  morning,  crossed  the  Tennessee  on  the 
pontoon  bridge  at  Bridgeport,  and  marching  ten  miles  on  the 
south  side  of  the  river,  went  into  camp  at  Cave  Spring,  where 
the  Rebels  had  extensive  saltpeter  works,  leaching  the  earth 
gathered  from  the  floors  of  the  huge  cave  in  the  mountain.  Some 
of  the  men  and  officers  went  far  into  the  cave;  and  the  band 
played,  expecting  the  cave  to  give  back  wonderful  echoes,  but  it 
didn't.  Marched  on  the  seventh,  at  daylight,  climbed  and  crossed 
Raccoon  Mountain,  and  down  into  Trenton  vallev.  Marched 
again  at  daylight,  and  reported  to  General  Thomas  at  about  ten 


loo  NINETT-SRCOND  ILLINOIS. 

o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  Trenton  vallev,  and  was,  by  him, 
directed  to  report  to  Major  General  Reynolds,  who  directed  the 
Colonel  to  put  his  Regiment  into  camp,  and  shoe  his  horses. 
The  animals  were  in  bad  condition.  At  one  o'clock,  a  detail  of 
fifty  men,  on  picked  horses,  under  Captain  Van  Buskirk,  of 
Company  E,  was  sent  on  a  scout  to  the  top  of  Lookout  Mountain. 
They  climbed  the  west  side  of  the  rugged  mountain  by  an  unused 
bridle-path,  the  first  blue-coated  soldiers  ever  on  Lookout, 
pushed  the  Rebel  pickets  to  Surnmertown,  in  plain  sight  of 
Chattanooga,  and  returned  about  ten  o'clock  at  night,  with 
authentic  information  of  the  evacuation  of  Chattanooga  by 
Bragg's  army.  The  Colonel  was  ordered  to  report  to  General 
Rosecrans,  who  gave  him  written  orders  to  take  the  advance  into 
Chattanooga,  marching  at  four  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the 
ninth,  with  orders  to  all  infantry  commanders  to  give  the  Ninety- 
Second  the  road ;  and  the  Colonel  was  directed  to  go  into  the 
town  of  Chattanooga,  and  send  General  Rosecrans  prompt 
information;  and  then  to  return  with  his  Regiment  and  report  to 
General  Rosecrans;  and  as  they  parted  General  Rosecrans  said: 
"The  flag  of  the  Ninety-Second  will  wave  first  in  Chattanooga." 
The  Regiment  marched  promptly,  and  passed  long  lines  of 
infantry  that  gave  the  road,  until  the  Colonel  came  up  to  the  di- 
vision of  General  Wood.  The  Colonel  rode  forward  and  showed 
his  orders  to  General  Wood,  who  criticised  them  and  hesitated, 
but  finally  halted  his  command,  and  the  Ninety-Second  passed 
through  it.  The  enemy's  pickets  were  struck  at  the  foot  of 
Lookout,  and  pushed  along  up  the  mountain.  Company  F  was 
dismounted,  and  on  foot,  from  behind  the  rocks  and  trees,  gave 
back  shot  for  shot  to  the  gray-coats  sullenly  falling  back  in  front 
of  them,  until  the  mountain  top  was  reached,  when  Wilder's 
artillery,  from  Moccasan  Point,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
sent  its  screaming  shells  into  our  ranks.  The  skirmish  line 
halted,  and  two  volunteers,  from  the  Ninety-Second,  good 
swimmers,  were  directed  to  swim  the  Tennessee,  and  inform  our 
brigade  battery  that  its  shells  were  bursting  among  the  men  of 
its  own  brigade ;  but  a  soldier  who  had  served  in  the  signal  corps 
was  along,  and,  tieing  his  white  handkerchief  by  the  corners  to 
a  couple  of  straight  hazel-sticks,  he  soon  acquainted  the  troops 
•  over  the  river  with  the  situation,  and  the  battery  ceased  firing, 
and  the.  Ninety-Second's  skirmish  line  pushed  on.  Just  at  this 
juncture,  a  staff  officer  of  General  Wood  rode  up  to  the  Colonel 
and  "said:  "  General  Wood  directs  that  you  report  to  him."  The 


NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  101 

Colonel  ordered  the  skirmish  line  and  Regiment  to  push  along, 
and  then  rode  back  to  the  head  of  Wood's  division  of  infantry, 
and  said  to  General  Wood:  "  Did  you  send  for  me?"  Wood  re- 
plied :  "  Yes,  Colonel ;  I  wanted  to  say  to  you,  that  if  you  have 
any  difficulty  I  will  reinforce  you."  The  Colonel  replied :  "  Oh, 
is  that  all?"  and  again  returned  to  the  head  of  the  Ninety- 
Second,  and  found  it  just  commencing  the  descent  into  the 
Chattanooga  valley.  The  Regimental  colors  were  sent  forward  to 
the  advance,  and  it  was  ordered  to  go  at  a  gallop  from  the  foot 
of  the  mountain  into  Chattanooga.  Soon  afterward,  General 
Wood  rode  up  to  the  head  of  the  column,  accompanied  by  one  of 
his  Brigade  Commanders,  with  his  brigade  colors,  but  without 
any  troops,  who  dashed  ahead ;  but  the  colors  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  with  Company  F  were  already  flying  through  the  valley, 
two  miles  ahead  of  Wood's  Brigade  Commander.  General 
Wood  told  the  Colonel  that  he  must  go  to  Rossville  with  the 
Ninety-Second,  and  not  send  any  of  his  troops  into  the  town ;  but 
was  pointed  to  the  column  of  dust  in  the  valley  creeping  rapidly 
toward  Chattanooga,  and  told  that  the  advance  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  would  be  in  the  town  within  five  minutes.  At  ten  o'clock 
A.  M.  of  September  gth,  1863,  the  flag  of  the  Ninety-Second 
was  waving  over  the  Crutchfield  House,  the  first  Union  flag  to 
wave  in  Chattanooga,  as  General  Rosecrans  had  predicted,  not- 
withstanding Wood's  efforts  to  detain  the  Regiment.  The 
remainder  of  the  Regiment  broke  into  a  gallop  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain,  and  was  soon  in  Chattanooga.  Scouts  were  sent  out 
on  all  the  roads.  Two  companies  went  as  far  as  Rossville,  skir- 
mishing with  the  Rebels  falling  back.  Negroes  and  citizens 
were  brought  to  the  Colonel,  and  the  completest  information 
gathered  regarding  the  evacuation,  and  an  account  of  a  rumor 
among  negroes  and  whites  that  Bragg  was  to  be  reinforced  from 
the  Rebel  army  in  front  of  Richmond,  and  give  Rosecrans 
battle  shortlv,  sent,  by  special  courier,  to  General  Rosecrans.  At 
twelve  o'clock,  General  Crittenden  arrived  in  Chattanooga.  At 
one  o'clock,  having  rested  horses  and  men  in  the  railroad  depot 
at  Chattanooga,  the  Ninety-Second  was  preparing,  as  ordered  to 
do,  to  return  and  report  to  General  Rosecrans  in  Trenton  valley, 
when  General  Crittenden  sent  for  the  Colonel,  and  commanded 
him  to  proceed  with  his  Regiment  to  the  mouth  of  the  Chica- 
mauga,  north-east  of  Chattanooga,  and  drive  away  the  enemy,  so 
that  Colonel  Wilder,  with  the  balance  of  the  brigade,  could  cross 
the  Tennessee  there.  The  Regiment  moved  at  once,  under  the 


lot  NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

orders  of  General  Crittenden,  driving  the  enemy  easily,  and  the 
advance  reached  the  mouth  of  the  creek  just  before  dark,  and 
found  Colonel  Wilder  already  crossing.  The  Regiment  camped 
nine  miles  north  of  Chattanooga,  in  the  Chicamauga  valley,  on  a 
grape  plantation.  Forage  was  abundant  for  the  animals ;  and  the 
huge  wine  cellars  in  the  ample  barn  contained  abundance  of  the 
purest  and  best  Catawba  wine.  There  were  many  temperance 
men  in  the  Regiment,  who  did  not  try  the  wine ;  but  there  were 
also  many  men  who  did  try  it,  and  the  camp  was  a  jolly  one.  On 
the  next  morning,  the  tenth,  with  forage  bags  full  of  forage,  and 
canteens  full  of  Catawba,  the  Ninety-Second  was  preparing  to 
march  back  through  Chattanooga,  and  report  to  General  Rose- 
crans,  when  Colonel  Wilder  ordered  the  Regiment  to  march 
with  the  brigade,  which  it  did,  on  the  road  to  Ringgold,  and 
camped  with  Wilder's  brigade  at  Grey  ville,  where  a  Rebel  mail 
was  captured,  and  merry  times  had  at  the  brigade  head-quarters, 
reading  the  letters  of  the  Rebel  soldiers  to  their  families  and 
sweethearts.  During  the  night,  Colonel  Wilder  received  orders 
to  send  the  Ninety-Second  to  report  to  General  Rosecrans,  at 
Lafayette ;  and  the  Regiment  pushed  out  at  daylight,  in  advance 
of  the  brigade,  and  soon  struck  the  Rebel  pickets,  and,  about  a 
a  mile  north  of  Ringgold,  found  the  enemy  in  force.  The  Regi- 
ment was  dismounted,  and  formed  in  line  of  battle  on  the  edge  of 
a  field,  the  enemy  forming  a  line  mounted,  at  the  same  time,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  field.  The  Ninety-Second  had  scarcely 
formed,  when  the  enmy's  line,  about  five  hundred  strong,  moved 
out  at  walk,  and,  entering  a  depression  in  the  field,  were  lost 
to  sight ;  they  soon  came  in  sight  again,  and  broke  into  a  trot,  and 
then  a  charge ;  but  they  were  hotly  received,  the  entire  Regiment 
fighting  coolly,  and  the  three  Spencer  companies  greatly  aided 
in  pouring  in  a  fire  the  enemy  could  not  stand ;  and  they  wavered, 
broke,  and  retreated,  leaving  thirteen  of  their  dead  upon  the  field. 
Only  four  were  wounded  in  the  Ninety-Second,  all  of  Company 
F:  Sergeant  Harvey  Ferrin,  Corporal  Eben  C-  Winslow,  private 
George  E.  Marl,  and  private  Frederick  Petermier,  whose  horse 
was  killed,  his  gun-stock  shattered  into  fragments,  and  he  caught 
a  flattened  Rebel  bullet  in  his  wallet.  In  an  instant,  there  was 
a  yell  from  a  Rebel  reinforcing  column  that  had  come  up  from 
Ringgold,  and  the  line  we  had  turned  back  reformed,  and,  re- 
inforced, commenced  a  second  charge.  Just  at  this  instant. 
Colonel  Wilder  came  up,  with  Captain  Lilly,  of  the  brigade  bat- 
tery, and  two  guns,  and  Lillv  unlimbered  under  the  enemy's  fire, 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  103 

and  sent  his  shell  screaming  up  the  road.  Lilly  was  a  dashing 
soldier,  and  a  splendid  artilleryist,  and  his  shots  were  always  sent 
to  the  right  spot.  Hardly  had  the  reverberation  of  his  first  two 
shots  died  away,  when  he  heard  two  answering  shots,  but  no 
shell  came  toward  us.  The  charging  Rebel  column  halted. 
Lilly  worked  his  guns  lively,  for  five  or  six  rounds,  and  the 
answering  shots  came  regularly,  but  it  was  evident  that  no  one 
was  firing  at  us.  Wilder  ordered  the  Regiment  forward,  and  for- 
ward it  went,  Wilder  himself  in  the  middle  of  the  road,  on  the 
skirmish  line,  revolver  in  hand,  and  telling  the  boys  both  sides  of 
the  road :  "  Dress  on  me,  boys."  But  Wilder  and  Companies  F 
and  E,  in  the  advance,  pushed  so  rapidly  that  the  Regiment  on 
foot  could  not  keep  up,  and  it  was  mounted  and  pushed  after  the 
advance,  but  did  not  come  up  to  it  until  Ringgold  was  reached, 
where  we  learned  that  General  Van  Cleve,  with  his  division  of 
infantry,  had  approached  Ringgold,  on  the  Rossville  road,  and  it 
was  his  guns  we  had  heard.  Forrest  made  lively  time  through 
Ringgold  Gap,  and  narrowly  escaped  capture  with  one  ot  his 
brigades.  Anticipating  that  the  road  to  Lafayette  was  held  by 
the  enemy,  a  scout  was  sent  out,  and  soon  returned  with  the 
information  that  the  road  was  held  by  the  gray-coats  in  strong 
force.  A  quantity  of  corn  in  bags  was  captured  at  the  depot  in 
Ringgold,  and  with  two  feeds  in  forage  sacks,  the  Ninety-Second 
again  left  the  brigade,  and  took  the  road  to  Rossville.'  When  a 
few  miles  from  Ringgold,  and  just  as  the  advance  was  descending 
a  wooded  hill,  considerable  commotion  was  observed  in  the  val- 
ley below.  With  a  glass  a  Union  wagon  train  was  seen  going 
into  camp ;  and  on  a  road  south  of  the  wagon  train,  running  at 
right  angles  with  the  road  the  Ninety-Second  was  marching  on,was 
observed  a  considerable  column  of  Rebel  cavalry.  The  citizens 
said  there  were  seven  hundred  Rebels.  The  artillery  was  unlim- 
bered  and  placed  in  position,  and  the  Regiment  dismounted; 
when  the  Rebels,  with  a  yell,  charged  on  the  camp  of  the  unsus- 
pecting Yankee  teamsters.  The  Rebels  did  not  anticipate  the 
reception  the  Ninety-Second  gave  them ;  and  as  our  artillery  and 
musketry  opened,  they  turned  about  and  left,  without  capturing 
a  wagon,  or  firing  more  than  a  few  pistol  shots  at  the  Ninety- 
Second.  Captain  Hawk,  with  two  companies,  followed  the 
Rebels  about  two  miles.  The  march  was  resumed ;  and  along 
the  road  were  found,  every  now  and  then,  a  Rebel  soldier  claim- 
ing to  be  a  deserter  from  Bragg's  army;  and,  bv  orders  from 
General  Rosecrans,  they  were  not  arrested,  but  told  to  go  on  their 


104  NINETT-SBCOND   ILLINOIS. 

way  home.  It  was  apparent  to  every  soldier  in  the  Ninety- 
Second  that  these  straggling  Rebels  were  spies,  and  not  deserters ; 
they  were  clean,  well  clad,  in  good  health,  and,  in  general  intelli- 
gence, the  brightest  soldiers  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Rebel 
army.  Such  men  are  not  often  deserters;  it  is  the  ill-clad,  unwell, 
down-hearted,  home-sick  men  who  desert  their  colors.  But 
orders  were  orders;  and  these  straggling  Rebels  were  left  unmo- 
lested, to  watch  the  movements  of  the  Union  troops  on  every 
road ;  and  they  must  have  been  terribly  puzzled  to  understand  the 
marching  and  countermarching  of  the  columns  they  looked  upon. 
The  infatuation  of  a  Union  General,  who,  by  published  orders, 
invited  his  enemy  to  fill  his  camp  with  spies,  has  ever  remained 
a  mystery.  The  Regiment  camped  at  Rossville  after  dark.  The 
Colonel,  confident  that  General  Rosecrans  was  not  in  Lafayette, 
sent  an  officer,  at  daybreak  the  next  morning,  to  learn  if  Rose- 
crans was  in  Chattanooga,  and  waited  until  nine  o'clock;  and, 
receiving  no  information,  the  Ninety-Second  took  the  Lafayette 
road,  from  Rossville  south,  and  struck  the  Rebel  picket,  which 
fell  back,  without  fighting,  at  Gordon's  Mill,  about  one  o'clock 
P.  M.  The  advance  was  halted  at  the  Mill,  and  horses  fed  from 
a  cornfield,  and  a  feed  of  corn  put  into  forage  bags;  and  as  the 
Regiment  was  preparing  to  move  forward,  an  orderly,  from 
General  Rosecrans,  rode  up  with  orders  to  the  Colonel  to  send 
his  Regiment  to  the  foot  of  Lookout  Mountain,  on  the  Summer- 
town  road,  and  report  in  person  for  further  orders  to  General- 
Rosecrans,  in  Chattanooga;  it  thereby  becoming  apparent  that 
the  Regiment  could  not  report  to  him  in  Lafayette.  Before  the 
Regiment  could  take  the  road,  it  was  filled  with  a  division  of 
infantry  marching  south,  that  found  its  journey  southward  im« 
peded  by  a  heavy  force  of  Rebel  infantry,  just  beyond  Gordon's 
Mill ;  so  strong,  indeed,  that  no  troops  under  Rosecrans  ever 
marched  any  farther  south  on  that  road.  As  soon  as  the  road 
was  cleared  of  the  infantry  division,  the  Ninety-Second  retraced 
its  march  to  Rossville,  and  on  to  the  foot  of  Lookout  Mountain. 
The  Colonel  rapidly  rode  to  Chattanooga,  and  was  ordered  bv 
General  Rosecrans  to  open  communication  with  General  George 
H.  Thomas,  somewhere  on  the  top  of  Lookout  Mountain,  south 
of  Chattanooga.  An  hour  before  sundown,  the  Colonel  returned, 
and  the  men  dismounted,  and,  leading  their  horses,  began  the 
toilsome  ascent  of  Lookout  Mountain,  the  head  of  the  column 
reaching  the  summit  near  dark.  A  storm  had  come  up,  and  !he 
rain  poured  down  in  torrents.  The  Regiment  on  the  mountain 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  105 

top  was  enveloped  in  the  clouds,  that  seemed  to  sweep  the  very 
ground.  A  guide  was  pressed  into  service,  and  leaving  a  squad 
of  men  belonging  to  Company  K,  as  a  courier  post  at  Summer- 
town,  the  Regiment  pushed  along  down  the  top  of  the  mountain 
in  the  storm  and  darkness,  establishing  frequent  courier  stations 
with  the  men  of  Company  K,  until  all  of  that  company  were  on 
such  duty,  and  then  with  the  men  of  Company  C,  exhausting 
that  company  also.  It  was  a  tedious  march;  the  storm,  con- 
tinuous, and  the  darkness  so  thick  it  could  be  felt;  the  animals 
and  men  weary,  and  many  of  the  men  would  fall  asleep  upon 
their  horses.  It  was  a  rough  road,  and  the  artillery  was  contin- 
ually falling  in  rear.  The  head  of  the  column  would  halt;  and 
when  the  artillery  closed  up  in  rear,  the  Commander  of  the 
Artillery  would  cry  out,  "  Artillery  closed  up;"  and  it  would  be 
taken  up  by  the  officers  along  the  line,  until  the  head  of  the  col- 
umn was  informed,  when  it  would  push  along,  feeling  its  way  in 
the  darkness.  During  these  halts,  many  of  the  exhausted  men 
laid  down  by  the  road-side;  and  when  the  column  started,  their 
horses  would  keep  their  places  in  the  ranks ;  but  it  was  so  dark 
that  their  companions  could  not  tell  whether  the  horses  had  riders 
or  not,  until  they  found  the  saddles  empty  in  the  morning.  At 
three  A.  M.,  the  picket  of  General  Thomas  halted  the  column. 
The  Regiment  went  into  bivouac:  and  the  Colonel,  accompanied 
by  Major  Lawver,  proceeded  to  General  Thomas's  head-quarters 
to  deliver  his  dispatches,  which  he  accomplished  at  four  o'clock 
A.  M.  on  September  twelfth,  and  by  six  o'clock  A.  M.  of  that  day, 
had  returned  a  letter  twenty-five  miles  over  the  courier  line,  and 
placed  it  in  the  hands  of  General  Rosecrans,  at  Chattanooga.  At 
nine  A.  M.,  the  exhausted  men  were  roused;  and  an  hour  after- 
ward, the  Regiment  moved  down  off  from  Lookout  Mountain  to 
the  east,  by  Cooper's  Gap,  leaving  Companies  K  and  C  on  cou- 
rier duty,  and  they  did  not  join  the  Regiment  again  until  long 
after  the  battle  of  Chicamauga.  Details  were  sent  out  for  forage, 
and  the  Regiment  rested  at  the  foot  of  Cooper's  Gap.  On  the 
thirteenth,  the  Regiment  moved  farther  into  the  valley,  and 
camped  at  Pond  Spring.  On  the  fourteenth,  the  Ninety-Second 
moved  at  daylight,  with  orders  to  scout  along  the  north-west  side 
of  the  Chicamauga  River,  and  open  communication  with  Gene- 
ral Crittenden  at  Crawfish  Springs,  and  inform  General  Critten- 
den  of  the  position  of  the  Union  troops.  Every  road  and 
path  crossing  the  Chic  miauga  was  found  picketed  by  the  Rebel 
pickets;  reached  Crawfish  Springs  at  eleven  o'clock,  and  came 
13 


io6  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

very  near  being  fired  upon  by  the  Union  infantry  there  encamped, 
who  insisted  that  the  Rebels  had  been  seen  a  little  while  before 
on  the  road  by  which  the  Regiment  approached;  learned  that 
Crittenden  had  marched  toward  Lookout  Mountain ;  rested  half 
an  hour,  and  fed  our  animals.  A  strong  scouting  party  was  sent 
back  to  Pond  Spring,  by  the  road  just  marched  over,  and  the 
Regiment  followed  on  the  road  Crittenden  had  taken.  The 
scouting  party  found  the  Rebel  videttes  occupying  the  same  sta- 
tions as  before,  at  every  crossing  and  path  over  the  Chicamauga, 
and  the  woods  full  of  Rebel  soldiers,  claiming  to  be  deserters 
from  the  Rebel  army,  which  they  depicted  as  in  full  retreat. 
Orders  were  obeyed,  and  they  were  not  molested.  Three  roads 
were  found  over  which  Bragg's  forces  had  moved  from  Chatta- 
nooga, evidencing  the  fact  that  he  had  deployed  his  army  south 
and  east  of  the  Chicamauga.  If  in  full  retreat,  with  the  abundant 
leisure  at  Bragg's  disposal,  his  columns  would  not  move  by  di- 
visions over  unfrequented  roads,  leading  nowhere  except  into  the 
dense  forests  south  and  east  of  the  Chicamauga.  Crittenden's 
command  was  found,  while  it  was  halting  for  a  rest,  at  about  two 
o'clock  P.  M.  The  Colonel  had  been  directed  to  explain  to  Gene- 
ral Crittenden  the  position  of  the  Union  troops,  and  did  so ;  and 
informed  him  that  everv  road  and  path  across  the  Chicamauga 
was  held  by  the  enemy.  General  Crittenden  very  testily  replied 
that  there  was  no  enemy  between  him  and  Lafayette.  He  found 
out  for  himself  afterward,  and  to  his  cost.  The  Regiment  re- 
turned to  Pond  Spring,  and  the  result  of  the  scout  was  officially 
reported.  During  the  night,  the  Colonel  was  ordered  to  deliver  a 
sealed  letter  to  General  Crittenden,  from  General  Rosecrans,  and 
he  detailed  a  Corporal  and  four  men  to  carry  it ;  the  Corporal 
found  General  Crittenden's  head-quarters,  at  four  o'clock  A.  M. 
on  the  fifteenth,  but  at  first,  was  refused  permission  to  deliver  his 
dispatch,  as  General  Crittenden  had  ordered  that  his  slumbers 
must  not  be  disturbed.  But  the  Corporal  persisted,  and  delivered 
his  letter  to  the  General  in  person  while  Crittenden  was  Iving  in 
bed;  and,  by  insisting  upon  it,  received  from  him  a  written  receipt 
for  the  package,  which  was  returned  to  the  Colonel.  During  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth,  the  Regiment  lay  in  camp  at  Pond  Spring, 
sending  scouting  parties,  as  ordered,  in  every  direction,  except 
across  the  Chicamauga.  That  was  a  locality  not  comfortable  to 
scout  in;  and  it  appeared  as  if  there  was  no  anxiety  to  learn  any- 
thing about  its  topography,  or  who  occupied  it.  Just  at  dark,  on 
the  sixteenth,  General  Rosecrans  and  staff  rode  by  the  camp,  and 


NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  107 

there  soon  came  an  order  to  the  Colonel  to  report  to  General  Rose- 
crans,  at  the  head-quarters  of  General  Reynolds,  and  the  Colonel 
did  so,  when  General  Rosecrans  demanded  to  know  why  his 
dispatch  to  General  Crittenden,  on  the  evening  of  the  fourteenth, 
had  not  been  promptly  delivered;  and  he  was  informed  that  it  was 
promptly  delivered  at  Crittenden's  head-quarters  before  daylight 
the  next  morning,  and  Crittenden's  receipt  was  handed  to  General 
Rosecrans.  He  then  sent  for  the  Corporal  who  delivered  it,  and 
inquired  of  him  all  the  particulars,  as  to  where  and  at  what  time 
his  orders  to  Crittenden  were  delivered.  The  Colonel  detailed  all 
the  iniormation  the  Regiment  had  obtained  scouting.  Generals 
Rosecrans,  Thomas,  McCook,  Reynolds,  Baird  and  others  were 
present.  The  Colonel  expressed  it  as  his  opinion  that  Bragg  was 
in  force  in  the  immediate  front,  when  McCook,  even  more  testily 
than  Crittenden  had  before  done,  replied  that  there  was  no  enemy 
to  amount  to  anything  between  them  and  Lafayette ;  that  he  could 
march  his  command  into  Lafayette  without  the  loss  of  five  men. 
Alas,  for  McCook!  he  learned  for  himself,  too,  afterward,  and  not 
wholly  to  the  credit  of  h,is  sagacity  or  generalship.  General 
Thomas  quietly,  but  very  persistently  and  patiently,  inquired  about 
the  topography  of  the  country  the  Ninety-Second  had  scouted  over, 
the  roads  and  bridges  across  the  Chicamauga,  and  listened 
silently  and  attentively  to  the  detail  of  all  that  the  Ninety-Second 
had  learned  regarding  the  country  or  the  enemy.  On  the  morn- 
ing of  the  seventeenth,  Company  E,  Captain  Van  Buskirk,  was 
ordered  to  report  to  General  J.  B.  Turchin,  whose  brigade  made  a 
reconnoissance  to  the  foot  of  Pidgeon  Mountain,  at  Dug  Gap, 
where  he  found  the  enemy  in  strong  force,  and  fought  desperately 
all  day.  The  Regiment  was  ordered  out  also,  and  spent  the  day 
in  scouting  around  the  flanks  of  Turchin's  command,  finding  a 
considerable  body  of  Rebel  cavalry  on  his  right  flank.  While 
Company  E  was  holding  the  valley  road,  on  Turchin's  right,  a 
heavy  column  of  dust  was  observed  approaching  from  the  south. 
McCook  was  expected  from  that  direction ;  and,  after  barricading 
the  road,  not  desiring  to  fire  into  our  troops,  Corporal  Henry 
Schlosser,  of  Company  E,  of  Forreston,  was  sent  up  the  road  waiv- 
ing his  handkerchief.  He  was  taken  prisoner,  and  died  in  Ander- 
sonville — grave  2,585.  While  taking  back  the  horses,  private 
Charles  H.  Giles,  of  Company  E,  of  Baileyville,  was  instantly 
killed.  The  enemy  charged  the  barricade  held  by  Company  E,  but 
did  not  take  it.  John  Evans,  private  Company  E,  of  Polo,  was 
wounded.  At  sundown  the  fighting  ceased,  and  the  Regiment 


io8  NINBTr-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

went  into  camp  on  the  old  ground  at  Pond  Spring.  Charles  H. 
Giles  was  the  first  man  killed  in  the  Regiment.  He  was  buried 
that  night  near  Pond  Spring,  by  the  light  of  fat  pine  torches,  with 
appropriate  ceremonies  by  the  Chaplain.  On  the  eighteenth,  the 
Regiment  remained  in  camp  most  ot  the  day.  The  men  had  noth- 
ing to  eat  except  green  corn,  and  the  animals  nothing  at  all.  A 
few  scouting  parties  were  sent  out.  At  two  P.  M.,  learning  that 
the  brigade  train  was  a  few  miles  up  the  valley,  the  Regiment 
marched  to  the  train  and  drew  three  days'  rations  and  one  day's 
forage,  and  returned  to  camp  at  Pond  Spring.  At  daylight,  on 
September  nineteenth,  the  Regiment  was  in  the  saddle,  and 
marched  slowly  with  the  infantry  columns  on  the  road  toward 
Gordon's  and  Chattanooga.  At  eight  o'clock,  the  artillery  and 
musketry  firing  by  a  portion  of  Thomas's  corps  became  heavy  and 
continuous.  About  ten  o'clock  A.  M.  the  Ninety-Second  was 
ordered  into  line  near  Widow  Glenn's  house,  where  General  Rose- 
crans  made  his  head-quarters.  A  soldier  writes:  "  A  man  came 
along  and  asked,  '  What  regiment  is  this  in  line  here?'  I  answered, 
'  The  Ninety-Second  Illinois,  Wilder's  Brigade.'  '  That  is  good,' 
said  the  man.  I  turned  and  looked  at  him,  and  saw  the  buttons 
in  groups  of  three  on  his  coat,  his  shoulder-straps  being  hidden  by 
a  common  cavalry  overcoat.  When  he  says,  looking  at  the  men 
coming  out  of  the  woods  in  front  of  the  Regiment,  '  What  men 
are  those  coming  up  there?'  I  said,  'I  am  told  that  is  Hazen's 
Brigade.'  He  then  inquired  rapidly,  '  What  does  it  mean?  Where 
is  that  fighting?  How  long  has  it  been  going  on?  What  troops 
are  engaged?  How  far  is  that  from  here?  What  does  that  dust 
mean?  What  does  it  mean?'  To  these  questions  I  answered  as 
promptly  and  definitely  as  I  knew  how,  for  I  saw  I  was  in  the 
presence  of  the  General  commanding.  He  gave  directions  to  his 
men  to  open  the  road  in  the  rear,  and  to  establish  his  head-quarters 
at  the  house,  and  immediately  up  went  a  field  telegraph  line."  In 
a  few  minutes  General  Rosecrans  ordered  the  Regiment  to  throw 
down  the  fence  in  its  front  and  on  the  farther  side  of  the  field, 
which  was  done,  and  the  Regiment  remained  there  about  an  hour, 
when  orders  came  from  General  Reynolds  to  move  farther  toward 
the  left,  and  the  Regiment  mounted  and  galloped  up  the  road  a 
mile  or  more,  and  found  General  Reynolds,  who  ordered  it  into  a 
thick  piece  of  woods.  The  men  dismounted  and  held  their  horses, 
and  stray  bullets  from  the  Rebels  rattled  over  the  Regiment,  cut- 
ting the  leaves  on  the  trees.  After  some  time  the  Regiment  was 
ordered  to  cross  to  the  west  side  of  the  road,  and  go  beyond  a  hill, 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS,  109 

and  hitch  the  horses  in  the  woods,  out  of  danger,  and  return  dis- 
mounted, General  Reynolds  saying  that  all  his  troops  were  hotly 
engaged,  and  that  the  Ninety-Second  was  his  only  reserve.  The 
Regiment  soon  dismounted,  hitched  their  horses  to  the  trees,  and 

marched  back  to  General  Reynolds,  who  was  found  on  a  hill 

» 

having  himself  crossed  to  the  west  side  of  the  road,  and  the  Ninety- 
Second  was  directed  to  reinforce  King's  brigade  of  Reynolds'  di- 
vision, and  the  Regiment  marched  down  the  hill,  and  just  before 
crossing  the  road  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  the  troops  of  King's  brig- 
ade came  out  of  the  woods  beyond,  in  disorder  and  retreating. 
General  Reynolds  ordered  the  Ninety-Second  to  return  to  the  top 
of  the  hill  and  form  in  line.  The  order  was  executed  with  difficulty 
under  the  straggling  fire  of  the  enemy,  the  men  obeying  orders 
and  falling  into  line  while  the  soldiers  of  King's  broken  brigade, 
in  full  retreat,  poured  through  the  Regiment  and  by  its  flanks,  pur- 
sued by  the  gray-coated  Rebels.  The  Ninety-Second  poured  into 
the  enemy  a  heavy  fire,  which  halted  the  Rebel  advance  at  the 
edge  of  the  timber  at  the  farther  side  of  the  open  field  and  across 
the  road :  but  they  kept  up  a  light  fire  for  a  little  while,  from  the 
timber,  and  then  they  came  out  in  a  long  line  of  battle,  stretching 
far  beyond  both  flanks  of  the  Ninety-Second,  and  again  the  cool 
fire  of  the  Regiment,  and  a  battery  of  artillery  on  its  left,  sent  the 
enemy  in  their  immediate  front  back  to  the  cover  of  the  timber 
across  the  road;  but  the  flanks  were  being  enveloped,  and  the 
Ninety-Second  could  not  alone  repulse  the  yelling  gray -coats,  who 
had  just  broken  the  line  of  King's  entire  brigade,  and,  flushed  with 
victory,  were  pressing  forward  their  steady  line  of  battle,  and  the 
Ninety-Second  was  ordered  to  fall  back  to  the  horses  and  mount. 
It  was  but  the  work  of  a  moment,  and  the  Regiment  was  soon  be- 
yond the  range  of  the  Rebel  infantry.  The  loss  in  this  engage- 
ment was:  In  Company  A,  Lieutenant  William  Cox,  wounded; 
Sergeant  Legrand  M.  Cox,  severely  wounded.  In  Company  B, 
Sergeant  William  F.Campbell,  wounded;  private  John  D.  Mc- 
Sherry,  killed;  private  James  J.  Guthrie,  wounded;  private  Edgar 
S.  Lent,  wounded.  Company  C,  private  James  T.  Halleck,  killed. 
Company  D,  private  Charles  J.  Reed,  killed;  private  Jacob  M. 
Snyder,  wounded.  Company  E,  private  John  Donohue,  mortally 
wounded;  private  Coates  L.  Wilson,  mortally  wounded ;  private 
John  J.  Thompson,  severely  wounded ;  private  Jacob  Sellers, 
killed.  Company  G,  Lieutenant  William  McCammons,  severely 
wounded;  private  James  Foreman,  wounded;  Corporal  Joseph  B. 
Train,  wounded ;  private  Ernest  Koller,  wounded ;  private  Nathan 


no  NINBTT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

Corning,  killed.  Company  H,  Sergeant  Roster  J.  Preston,  killed ; 
Sergeant  John  M.  Hendricks,  severely  wounded;  private  William 
S.  Harlin,  mortally  wounded;  private  Cyrus  Eyster,  wounded. 
Company!,  Sergeant  William  H.  Price,  wounded ;  Corporal  James 
A.  Colehour,  wounded ;  Corporal  James  A.  Bigger,  killed. 

There  were  many  horses  lost,  not  by  Rebel  shot,  however,  but 
taken  by  the  straggling  infantry,  while  the  Ninety-Second  was 
absent  from  them.     The  Regiment  never  dismounted  after  that, 
without  leaving  a  guard  with  their  horses.     Once  out  of  range  of 
the  enemy,  the  query  arose  of  what  to  do.     The  Regiment  was 
without  orders,  and  many  troops  were  streaming  off  toward  Chat- 
tanooga; but  the  Ninety-Second  was  not  demoralized  by  its  effort 
to  retrieve  the  disaster  to  King's  brigade,  although  it  was  .a  fruit- 
less  effort,   and   the    Regiment  had   met  with  loss.     The  Regi- 
ment sought  the  left  flank  of  the  troops  of  the  enemy  that  had 
broken    through   the    Union    lines,  in  the  gap  left  when  King's 
brigade  was  pushed  back,  found   it,  passed  by  it,  and  in  its  rear, 
and  found  Wilder's  brigade,  and  went  into  line  of  battle  on  Wil- 
der's  left,  filling  a  part  of  the  very  gap  made  by  the  Union  repulse, 
where    the   Regiment  lay  in  line  of  battle  all  night,   listening  to 
the  agonizing  cries  of  the  wounded  calling  for  water;  and,   before 
daylight,  on  the  twentieth,  was  stretched  out  in  line  of  battle  on 
horseback,  to   hold     Wilder's   brigade   front,   while   the  balance 
of  the  brigade  went  back  a  mile  or  more,  and  formed  in  line  on 
the  right  of  McCook's  corps,  on  a  range  of  hills.     When  it  grew 
light,  the  enemy  was  seen  along  the  front,  and  there  was  a  little 
skirmishing,  but  the  firing  gradually  ceased,  and  the  Rebels  ven- 
tured   out   into    the  open   field   in  _our   front,    to   pick    up   their 
wounded.     The  men   of  the  Ninety-Second  saw  them  carrying 
them  back,  and  had  no  heart  to  fire  upon  them  while  engaged  in 
such  a  work.     Wilder  had  been  charged  by  the  gray-coats  several 
times,  over  that  open  field,  the  day  before,  and  his   Spencers  had 
punished   them    severely.      Wilder's   brigade   was  invincible;   it 
never   failed  to  repulse  a   charge,  and  never  was  repulsed  when 
charging.     Not   long    after   sunrise,   a   heavy    column  of  Rebel 
troops,  in  column  of  regiments,  was  observed  passing  by  the  left 
flank  of  the  Ninety-Second,  moving  very  slowly,  making  not  a 
sound,  unaccompanied  by  an  officer  on  horseback,  and  frequently 
halting,  as  the  light  skirmish  line  in  front  of  them  would  halt. 
Information  was  sent  to  McCook,  who  irritably  denied  the  truth- 
fulness   of  the    information.     Little   by    little,   the    gray-coated 
soldiers  of  the  enemy,  and,  as  silently  as  darkness,  crept  along. 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  rn 

It  was  said  to  be  Longstreet's  corps.  Their  skirmish  line  was 
but  lightly  engaged;  but  the  heavy  column  of  the  enemy,  some- 
times dropping  down  on  the  ground,  concealed  in  the  corn-field, 
or  by  the  thick  underbrush,  slowly,  steadily  pushed  t9ward  Mc- 
Cook's  left.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets,  of  the  Ninety-Second, 
was  sent  to  see  McCook  in  person,  and  saw  him,  detailing  to  him 
the  information,  and  was  most  abruptly  and  ungraciously  received 
by  McCook.  The  Ninety-Second  could  make  no  impression  by 
attacking  such  a  dense  mass  of  the  enemy;  nor  could  it  do  so 
without  positive  disobedience  to  orders,  by  leaving  the  position  it 
was  assigned  to  hold.  The  Rebel  column  was  far  off  on  its  left 
flank,  and  had  far  passed  it,  and  McCook  was  again  informed  of 
the  coming  avalanche,  but  he  would  not  heed  the  information,  or 
do  what  he  might  easily  have  done, — push  out  a  few  regiments  of 
his  own  troops,  and  demonstrate  the  truthfulness,  or  otherwise,  of 
the  information  repeatedly  sent  him.  Hours  passed  by,  and  then 
that  quiet,  creeping,  heavy  column  of  Rebel  regiments  sprang 
upon  the  left  of  McCook's  corps  with  a  yell,  and  with  irresistible 
force.  Although  McCook  had  been  repeatedly  informed  of  the 
approach  of  that  column  of  the  enemy  in  such  overwhelming 
power,  it  was  a  perfect  surprise  to  him.  In  less  than  ten  minutes 
his  left  was  irretrievably  lost,  and  the  amazed  and  astonished 
General  looked  on  helplessly,  his  corps  broken  into  fragments, 
and  floating  off  from  the  battle-field  in  detachments  and  squads,. 
like  flecks  of  foam  upon  a  stream.  The  eight  companies  of  the 
Ninety-Second,  on  horseback,  were  scattered  out  in  a  thin  line, 
covering  a  brigade  front,  the  men  only  in  talking  distance  of  each 
other,  and  were  the  only  advanced  troops  in  front  of  McCook,  and 
were  really  in  front  of  the  right  of  his  corpse;  and  the  charge  of 
that  column  was  the  signal  for  the  whole  Rebel  line  to  advance, 
and  the  Ninety-Second  had  to  fall  back  rapidly,  to  avoid  being 
enveloped,  and  it  joined  Wilder's  brigade,  that  was  on  the  right 
of  McCook.  Colonel  Wilder,  from  the  hills  McCook  had  occu- 
pied, saw  the  long  column  of  Rebel  regiments,  and  instantly 
conceived  the  bold  idea  of  charging  through  the  very  center  of 
the  Rebel  column,  taking  it  in  flank,  and  pushing  for  Thomas,  on 
the  left.  He  was  just  the  man  to  have  led  such  a  desperate 
charge.  He  had  five  regiments,  and  a  splendid  battery,  four 
regiments  armed  with  the  Spencer  Repeating  Rifle,  and  the 
Ninety-Second,  with  three  companies  of  Spencers.  He  intended 
to  form  two  regiments  front  in  line  of  battle,  with  opening  for  the 
battery,  a  regiment  on  each  flank  in  column,  and  the  Ninety-Second 


ii2  NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

in  line'of  battle  in  rear  of  the  battery ;  and  the  Ninety-Second  was 
just  moving  to  take  its  place  in  this  desperate  charging  column, 
when  Charles  A.  Dana,  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,  rode  up  to 
Wilder,  and  ordered  him  not  to  make  the  attempt,  and  positively 
ordered  Wilder  to  withdraw  to  Chattanooga,  on  the  Dry  Valley 
road.  Wilder  was  daring  and  desperate ;  Dana,  a  coward  and  an 
imbecile;  and  but  for  Dana's  order,  the  gallant  Wilder  would 
have  undertaken  that  desperate  charge,  and  would  have  succeeded 
in  joining  Thomas  with  a  portion  of  his  gallant  brigade.  Gath- 
ering up  the  artillery  McCook's  corps  had  abandoned,  and,  proba- 
bly, a  hundred  ambulances  of  wounded,  Wilder  lingered  until 
nearly  night;  then  sullenly  retired,  followed  by  Forrest's  cavalry, 
and,  long  after  dark  on  the  twentieth,  bivouaced  a  mile  south  of 
the  Summertown  road,  about  five  miles  south  of  Chattanooga,  in 
the  shadow  of  Lookout  Mountain.  It  is  not  the  province  of  the 
Publication  Committee  of  the  Ninety-Second  to  write  the  com- 
plete history  of  that  battle;  the  foregoing  is  but  a  fragment  for  the 
use  of  some  future  American  Macaulay. 

Doctor  Clinton  Helm,  Surgeon  of  the  Ninety-Second,  re- 
mained upon  the  battle-field,  caring  for  the  wounded,  until  he  was 
taken  prisoner,  and,  as  a  prisoner,  for  two  weeks  longer  attended 
to  the  wounded  Union  soldiers  upon  the  battle-field  of  Chica- 
mauga,  when  he  was  marched,  with  about  fifty  other  Yankee 
Surgeons,  to  Ringgold.  From  there  he  was  taken  by  cars  to 
Richmond,  Virginia,  and,  on  the  tenth  of  October,  was  confined 
in  Libby  Prison.  On  the  twenty-fourth  of  November,  he  was  ex- 
changed, and  returned  to  the  Regimental  Pulaski,  Tennessee. 

At  sunrise  of  the  twenty-first,  the  Regiment  was  in  the  saddle, 
and,  finding  the  brigade  supply  train  at  the  foot  of  the  Summer- 
town  road,  drew  rations,  and  marched  through  Chattanooga, 
crossed  the  pontoons  to  the  north  side  of  the  river,  marched  to  a 
point  opposite  the  mouth  of  the  Chicamauga,  and  bivouaced.  On 
the  twenty-second,  light  fortifications,  facing  the  river,  were 
thrown  up.  On  the  twenty-third,  the  Regiment  marched  to  Har- 
rison's Landing,  and  went  into  camp,  with  orders  to  picket  the 
Tennessee  as  far  north  as  the  Hiwassee,  as  the  only  dependence 
for  rations  to  feed  the  army  at  Chattanooga  were  wagon  trains 
over  the  mountains,  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  from  Bridge- 
port, and  well-grounded  fears  were  entertained  that  the  enemy 
would  cross  parties  of  light  troops  to  the  north  side  of  the  river, 
and  put  an  embargo  on  the' Yankee  cracker  line.  They  did  cross, 
and  .burned  three  hundred  wagons  loaded  with  rations,  in  the  Se« 


NINETY -SECOND    ILLINOIS.  113 

quatchie  valley ;  but  did  not  cross  at  any  point  guarded  by  the 
Ninety-Second  Regiment.  They  crossed  farther  up  the  Tennes- 
see, where  the  crossing  was  better.  Our  picket  line  was  so  long 
that,  frequently,  a  Corporal  and  three  men  did  picket  duty  for  days 
in  succession,  at  important  river  crossings,  without  being  relieved  . 
It  often  happened  that  not  a  well  man  was  in  camp  for  days  to- 
gether, except  the  field  officers,  the  Chaplain,  and  Assistant  Sur- 
geon ;  and  not  all  of  them  remained  in  camp,  for  some  of  them 
would  go  galavanting  around  the  country,  visiting  the  secesh  las- 
sies! The  Committee  on  Publication  do  not  feel  inclined  to  tell 
who  those  galavanting  officers  were,  except  that  the  gay  and 
festive  Major  was,  probably,  not  among  them,  and  that  Chaplain 
Cartright  was.  The  Committee  have  concluded  to  give  an 
account  of  one  of  the  Chaplain's  visits :  The  Major,  out  riding 
for  health  one  afternoon,  passed  a  Tennessee  palace,  not  far  from 
camp,  where  he  observed  one  of  the  beautiful  lassies  of  that  beau- 
tiful country  engaged  in  the  romantic  occupation  of  coloring 
home-made  cotton  cloth  butternut  color,  a  chemical  metamor- 
phosis which  is  accomplished  by  boiling  butternut  bark  in  water, 
in  large  kettles,  and  dipping  the  cloth  into  the  liquor  procured  by 
such  boiling.  It  may  be  remarked  here,  that  from  time  imme- 
morial, in  all  of  those  countries  where  cotton  is  the  staple  crop, 
and  butternut,  or  black-walnut  trees  are  found  (and  they  probably 
are  found  in  every  climate  where  cotton  will  grow),  this  peculiar 
butternut  colored  cloth  is  the  almost  universal  dress  of  male  and 
female;  although  the  same  material,  colored  by  some  mysterious 
process,  indigo-blue  is  preferred  by  the  female  race.  It  frequently 
happened  that  this  outward  garment  of  cotton  cloth,  colored 
butternut  or  indigo-blue,  was  the  only  garment  worn  by  the 
mountain  nymphs.  O !  how  divinely  it  did  set  off  "  the  female 
form  divine,"  tied  with  a  cotton  string  around  the  waist!  The 
Major  was  an  observing  officer;  and,  one  afternoon,  at  Harrison's 
Landing,  at  the  Tennessee  palace  we  have  mentioned,  he  ob- 
served, in  the  yard,  a  mountain  sprite  engaged  in  the  romantic 
occupation  of  coloring  fabrics,  in  the  manner  described;  and, 
riding  into  camp,  he  nervously  inquired  for  Doctor  Winston,  and, 
not  finding  him,  sent  his  Orderly  to  find  the  Doctor,  and  tell  him 
that  a  woman  was  "  dying,"  at  he  house  near  the  camp.  The 
Chaplain  met  the  Orderly,  and  learned  the  message  he  was  to 
deliver;  and  the  Chaplain  charged  away  for  the  house,  hallooing, 
as  he  went,  "  Doctor  Winston,  Doctor  Winston!  there  is  a  woman 
'dying'  over  there!"  The  Doctor  joined  the  Chaplain — one  to 
14 


n4  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

administer  drugs,  and  the  other  spiritual  advice — and  they  were 
soon  at  the  house  indicated.  They  inquired  after  the  woman  who 
was  "  dying,"  and  were  referred  to  Sally,  in  the  yard !  The 
Chaplain  saw  the  point ;  and  when  he  returned  to  camp,  he  shook 
his  head,  saving:  "  Major,  Major,  you  are  a  hard  case."  But  it 
is  believed,  by  all  the  members  of  the  Regiment,  that  Doctor 
Winston  has  not  yet  seen  the  point!  The  enemy  occupied  their 
old  position,  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Tennessee;  but  there 
was  no  picket  firing.  The  men  would  talk  across  the  river,  and 
good-naturedly  joke  each  other  about  the  progress  of  the  war. 
One  day,  a  soldier  known  by  the  knick-name  of  "  Mother"  (the 
soldiers  of  the  Ninety-Second  will  remember  him)  swam  the 
Tennessee  River,  and  had  a  combat  with  the  Johnnies,  and  then 
swam  back  again.  On  Sunday,  the  twenty-seventh,  the  gray- 
coats  having  invjted  some  of  the  men  across,  they  went  over,  and 
enjoyed  a  visit  with  their  enemies,  and  returned  the  courtesy  by 
inviting  them  to  our  side  of  the  river;  and  quite  a  squad  accepted 
the  invitation,  and  took  a  cup  of  coffee  with  the  Yanks.  The 
men  of  both  armies,  deadly  enemies  in  battle,  would  lay  aside 
all  feeling,  and,  with  a  perfect  abandon,  spin  camp  yarns  for  the 
entertainment  of  each  other  On  the  fourth  of  October,  wagons 
were  sent  eighty  miles  up  the  Tennessee  River,  after  forage  for 
the  animals.  The  men  were  then  living  on  parched  corn,  and 
the  horses  on  the  little  handfuls  of  grass  the  men  could  pull  for 
them  along  the  river's  edge.  On  the  ninth,  a  few  wagons  arrived 
from  Bridgeport,  with  a  light  supply  of  rations  and  clothing.  On 
the  thirteenth,  the  wagons  returned  from  the  cornfields  of  East 
Tennessee,  with  light  loads  of  corn,  the  most  of  their  loads  hav- 
ing been  consumed  by  the  mules,  on  the  return  march.  They 
were  immediately  sent  back  again  for  more;  and,  as  the  mules 
went  without  eating,  on  their  return  march  to  East  Tennessee, 
the  next  time  they  returned  to  camp,  the  teamsters  provided 
themselves  for  the  return  march  after  forage,  by  hiding  corn  in 
the  woods  before  reaching  camp,  and  only  a  few  bushels  of  corn 
were  left  to  a  wagon.  Sqme  of  the  horses  were  dying  of  starva- 
tion, and  all  like  Don  Quixote's  famous  steed.  The  rain  had 
poured  down  in  torrents  for  days  together.  On  the  evening  of 
the  eighteenth,  Jefferson  Davis  took  his  supper  at  a.  house  on  the 
other  side  of  the  river,  within  sight  of  our  camp.  He  was  visit- 
ing Bragg's  army,  to  quell  dissentions  among  his  troops.  On  the 
twenty-second,  a  man  in  Company  D  accidentally  shot  himself 
through  his  leg.  On  the  twenty-fourth,  Colonel  Smith's  brigade 


NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  n$ 

of  infantry  arrived.  On  the  twenty-fifth,  William  Boddy,  of 
Company  A,  came  near  feeding  the  fishes  of  the  Tennessee  with 
his  body;  while  out  hunting  for  forage,  he  crossed  to  an  island  in 
the  river,  and,  returning  in  a  little  skiff,  he  disrobed,  and,  on  top 
of  the  forage,  essayed  to  guide  his  frail  bark  from  the  island  to 
the  river  bank,  when  the  skiff  capsized,  and  Boddy's  body,  with 
forage  and  clothing,  went  into  the  water.  Boddy  thought  more  of 
his  body  than  he  did  of  the  apparel  for  his  body ;  and  while  his 
body  covering  floated  down  the  Tennessee,  Boddy  brought  his 
body  out  all  right;  and  then,  like  a  Modock  Chief,  with  an  army 
blanket  gracefully  draping  his  body,  Boddy  rode  ten  miles  to 
camp.  The  pouring  rains  had  nearly  drowned  out  the  men  ;  and 
on  the  twenty-sixth,  camp  was  moved  to  higher  ground.  The 
hills  were  covered  with  chestnut  trees,  and  the  trees  with  chest- 
nuts; and  to  gather  them,  hundreds  of  trees  were  cut  down. 
They  helped  along  the  rations,  which,  being  principally  parched 
corn,  needed  helping  along.  On  the  morning  of  the  twenty- 
seventh,  the  Regiment  took  up  its  line  of  march  for  Bridgeport, 
being  relieved  of  duty  at  Harrison's  Landing  by  Smith's  brigade; 
crossed  Walden's  Ridge  at  Poe's  Tavern,  and  camped  in  the  Se- 
quathie  valley,  near  Dunlap.  Marched  at  daylight  down  the 
Sequatchie  valley  twenty-two  miles;  the  roads  were  very  much  cut 
up  by  trains ;  fences  all  burned ;  houses  deserted ;  the  ruins  of  three 
hundred  Yankee  wagons,  burned  by  Forrest,  lining  the  road;  the 
contrast,  since  first  marching  in  the  valley,  was  most  wonderful; 
in  a  day's  march,  nothing  but  ruin  was  seen-,  either  animal  or 
man,  except  lazy  buzzards;  nothing  for  men  or  animals  to  eat; 
camped  near  Jasper.  Marched  at  daylight  on  the  twenty-ninth, 
and,  seven  miles  from  Bridgeport,  passed  through  the  camps  of 
Hooker's  troops  from  the  Potomac,  well  dressed,  all  with  corps 
badges  and  paper  collars,  and  much  style!  The  horses  of  the 
Ninety-Second  could  scarcely  crawl  along — empty  corn-cribs! 
The  men  were  unwell  from  their  lack  of  rations  and  hard  duty, 
and  their  clothing  worn  out  and  ragged.  Some  thoughtless  Po- 
tomac soldiers  commenced  to  jibe  the  men  of  the  Ninety-Second, 
and  it  required  an  effort  on  the  part  of  the  officers  to  keep  the 
boys  from  replying  with  their  Spencers.  Men  who  are  ragged 
from  hard  service,  and  emaciated  for  the  want  of  food,  do  not  like 
to  be  jibed.  Reached  Bridgeport  at  two  o'clock,  and  drew 
forage  and  rations,  and  went  into  camp.  On  the  thirty-first 
of  October,  the  Regiment  was  mustered  for  pay  at  Bridgeport. 
On  November  fifth,  the  Colonel,  with  a  detail,  went  to  Stevenson, 


n6  N1NETT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

to  draw  Spencers  for  the  seven  companies  still  armed  with  En- 
fields;  but  was  informed,  by  Captain  Horace  Porter,  Ordinance 
Officer,  that  the  Spencers  were  in  Nashville.  On  the  sixth,  the 
Colonel,  by  order  of  General  Thomas,  took  a  detail  of  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  men,  and  proceeded  by  cars  to  Nashville,  to 
procure  horses,  mules,  and  Spencers,  leaving  the  Ninety-Second 
in  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets,  the  Regiment  re- 
maining at  Bridgeport.  A  soldier,  in  an  old  letter  written  from 
Bridgeport  on  the  eleventh,  said :  "  On  the  morning  of  the 
twenty-seventh  of  October,  by  order  of  General  Thomas,  we  left 
Harrison's  Landing  for  this  place,  making  it  in  three  days,  over 
the  worst  roads  I  have  ever  seen.  This  is  the  third  time  we  have 
crossed  Walden's  Ridge,  or  mountain ;  and  if  the  weather  con- 
tinues as  it  has  been  for  the  last  three'  weeks,  it  will  have  to  be 
pontooned  before  we  can  cross  it  again.  Our  transportation 
arrived,  after  a  struggle  of  ten  days  through  the  mud,  the  distance 
being  just  sixty  miles.  Our  object,  or  rather  the  object  of  Gene- 
ral Thomas,  in  ordering  us  to  this  point,  is  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  us  a  more  complete  outfit;  and  at  present  writing,  Colonel 
Atkins,  with  one  hundred  and  thirty  men  and  officers,  is  at  Nash- 
ville, procuring  Spencers,  horses,  and  saddles,  and  all  the  traps 
pertaining  to  completeness.  The  remainder  of*the  Regiment  are 
to  recruit  up  the  animals  on  hand,  that  have  of  late  become  mag- 
nificently transparent.  We  have  them  tied  to  the  trees  with 
trace-chains  and  sich,  for  the  reason  that  they  have  eaten  up  all 
the  picket  ropes  and  halters,  and  have  turned  in  to  eating  each 
other's  manes  and  tails.  The  mules  have  fared  some  better  than 
the  horses,  but  not  much;  not  having  any  tails  or  manes,  they 
have  lost  their  ears,  ornaments  indispensable  to  a  mule's  beauty. 
There  is  not  a  tree  within  a  mile  of  this  camp  that  the  horses 
or  mules  have  not  gnawed  off  the  bark;  they  work  at  it  like  so 
many  beavers  felling  timber.  Last  night,  they  all  commenced 
gnawing  the  trees  at  once ;  and  the  Chief  of  Scouts  said :  '  The 
cars  are  coming ;  don't  you  hear  them  ?'  '  No,'  said  I ;  '  that  is 
the  horses  and  mules  grinding  bark.1  '  Why,'  he  said;  '  what  are 
we  grinding  bark  for?'  I  replied,  'Going  to  tan  the  hides  of 
them  animals  before  spring.'  And  the  Chief  of  Scouts  replied, 
'O,  O;  I  see  it.' 

"  If  he  dies,  I'll  tan  his  skin — 

And  if  he  don't,  I'll  ride  him  again." 

On  November  thirteenth,  drew  soft  bread  for  the  first  time  since 
leaving  Dechard.  The  fifteenth,  ordered  to  march  at  daylight  the 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  117 

sixteenth,  but  order  was  countermanded,  and  two  companies  sent 
on  a  scout  south  of  the  Tennessee.  On  the  seventeenth,  marched 
at  nine  A.  M.,  by  command  of  Major  General  Stanley,  and  went 
into  camp  on  south  side  of  Tennessee  River,  two  miles  from 
Bridgeport.  On  the  eighteenth,  there  were  very  strict  orders  for 
every  one  to  remain  in  camp,  and  two  roll-calls  daily.  On  the 
next  day,  fixed  up  camp  for  a  long  stay.  On  the  twentieth,  the 
detail  that  went  to  Nashville  returned,  with  a  fresh  supply  of 
horses  and  mules,  the  Colonel  remaining  to  draw  the  Spencers. 
On  the  twenty-second,  a  lot  of  Rebel  prisoners  passed  camp,  going 
to  the  rear.  On  the  twenty-third,  more  Rebel  prisoners  passed 
by,  ragged,  and  some  actually  barefooted,  and  the  weather  so  cold 
that  ice  strong  enough  to  hold  a  man  up  had  formed  over  the 
puddles  of  water.  Day  by  day  passed,  lying  in  camp,  and  doing 
scouting  duty  for  General  Stanley.  On  December  second,  marched 
at  noon ;  crossed  the  Tennessee  on  pontoons  at  Bridgeport,  and 
camped  five  miles  west  on  the  Stevenson  road,  at  Widow's  Creek 
— rails,  for  fires,  plenty.  Marched  early,  arriving  at  Caperton's 
Ferry  at  noon,  and  found  fine  quarters,  log  buildings  erected  by 
Colonel  Watkins's  regiment.  On  the  fourth,  Company  E,  Cap- 
tain Van  Buskirk,  that  had  been  on  duty, with  General  Cruft,  re- 
turned to  the  Regiment.  The  company  reported  to  General  Cruft 
at  Wauhatchie,  and  acted  as  body-guard  and  dispatch-bearers. 
On  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Lookout  Mountain,  Company  E  did 
good  service  in  bearing  dispatches,  and  especially  in  furnishing 
the  infantry  line  of  battle  with  ammunition,  bringing  up  the  am- 
murfition  boxes  on  horseback  and  distributing  it  to  the  infantry. 
The  company  also  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Missionary  Ridge, 
and  the  night  after  the  battle  guarded  the  Rebel  prisoners ;  and 
marched  with  General  Cruft's  command  to  Ringgold.  The  con- 
duct of  Company  E  won  special  commendation  in  the  official  re- 
port of  General  Cruft. 

Companies  K  and  C,  that  were  left  on  courier  duty  on  Look- 
out Mountain,  September  eleventh,  returned  to  the  Regiment  at 
Caperton's  Ferry.  A  soldier,  a  member  of  Company  K,  has 
written  his  recollections  of  the  services  of  those  two  companies, 
while  absent  from  the  Regiment,  as  follows:  "The  sun  was  just 
setting  behind  Lookout's  craggy  head  as  the  Regiment  com- 
menced the  ascent.  In  zigzag  course,  upward  they  toiled,  men 
and  officers  leading  the  jaded  animals.  Stumbling  over  flinty 
points,  flanking  huge  boulders,  climbing  the  splintered  sides  of 
ledges,  the  Regiment  scrambled  upward  till  it  reached  the  lofty 


n8  NINETr-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

summit.  The  sun  had  set;  there  was  no  moon,  and  the  night  was 
very  dark ;  a  guide  was  necessary.  A  rap  at  the  door  of  a  house 
close  by  brought  the  occupant  out.  The  light  he  held  in  his  hand 
showed  him  to  be  a  stout,  vigorous  mountaineer,  of  about  sixty 
years,  with  iron-gray  hair,  and  a  frank  face.  He  said  his  name 
was  Foster;  he  reported  himself  a  Union  man,  and  such  he  after- 
ward proved  to  be.  Well  did  the  old  man,  in  the  pitchy  darkness, 
guide  the  Regiment  along  that  rough,  winding  mountain  road. 
Companies  C,  Captain  Hawk,  and  K,  Captain  Woodcock,  under 
the  command  of  the  latter,  were  detailed  for  courier  duty.  A 
Sergeant  and  ten  men  from  Company  K  were  stationed  as  a  cour- 
ier post,  at  Foster's.  At  points  two  miles  apart  along  the  road 
were  stationed  a  like  number'  of  men,  Company  K  covering  ten 
miles,  and  Company  C  fourteen  miles.  The  first  streak  of  dawn 
came  when  the  Regiment  had  completed  its  task.  Both  men  and 
animals,  from  sheer  exhaustion,  sank  upon  the  ground  in  thepro- 
foundest  slumber.  A  courier  line  was  formed  above  the  clouds, 
on  Lookout's  lofty  summit,  over  which  were  sent  all  the  dis- 
patches to  the  army  corps  of  Generals  Thomas  and  McCook.  The 
views  obtained  by  those  left  on  the  mountain  were  grand.  The 
boys  from  the  prairies,  unaccustomed  to  such  scenes,  looked  with 
wonder  and  admiration.  They  could  see,  in  a  clear  day,  into  seven 
different  States:  Georgia,  Alabama,  Tennessee,  Mississippi,  North 
and  South  Carolina,  and  the  mountains  of  West  Virginia.  At 
times  the  clouds  would  gather  below  them,  and,  silvered  by  the 
sun,  resembled  great  banks  of  snow;  then  they  would  lift  from 
the  valley  and  float  away,  opening  to  view  a  most  beautiful  pano- 
"  rama.  For  miles  about,  the  country,  like  a  great  map,  seemed  to 
lie  at  their  feet,  a  beautiful  scene  of  mountains,  valleys  and  streams. 
For  miles  the  silvery  flood  of  the  Tennessee  River  could  be  seen 
in  its  winding  course.  The  mountaineers  were  loyal.  They  had 
been  hiding  away  in  the  caves  and  fastnesses  of  the  mountains  to 
avoid  conscription  into  the  ranks  of  the  Rebel  armies.  They  and 
their  families  visited  us,  the  first  Yanks  they  had  seen.  They 
vied  with  each  other  in  bestowing  upon  the  boys  their  kindness — 
sweet  potatoes,  all  kinds  of  vegetables,  ducks,  chickens,  pies, 
cakes,  honey,  and  apple-jack  brandy  were  among  their  gifts.  We 
feasted  upon  the  good  things  of  the  earth.  The  boys  on  the  cour- 
ier post  at  Foster's  house  were  especially  favored.  Mrs.  Foster, 
an  intelligent,  kind-hearted,  motherly,  old  lady,  took  them  under 
her  especial  care.  She  called  them  her  boys. 

!'  Five     days     and    nights    were    thus    spent     on     Lookout 


NINBTT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  ,119 

Mountain,  and  are  remembered  by  the  members  of  Compa- 
nies C  and  K  as  among  the  most  pleasant  of  their  soldier  life.  At 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  Wednesday,  the  sixteenth,  orders 
came  to  take  up  the  courier  line  at  once,  and  report  to  General 
Rosecrans,  at  Crawfish  Springs.  The  order  was  obeyed ;  and  on 
the  evening  of  that  day,  Captain  Woodcock  reported  to  General 
Rosecrans  with  the  two  companies.  On  the  seventeenth,  by 
General  Rosecrans's  order,  Captains  Woodcock  and  Hawk  formed 
a  courier  line  from  Chattanooga  to  Crawfish  Springs,  along  the 
base  of  Lookout,  a  distance  of  sixteen  miles,  both  officers  remain- 
ing with  their  reserves  at  the  head-quarters  of  General  Rosecrans, 
at  Widow  Glenn's  house.  Saturday  morning,  the  nineteenth,  the 
battle  of  Chicamauga,  one  of  the  bloodiest  of  the  war,  commenced. 
It  raged  fiercely  all  day,  the  earth  fairly  quaking  beneath  the 
thunder  of  the  artillery  and  incessant  roll  of  musketry.  Captains 
Woodcock  and  Hawk,  with  their  reserves,  were  engaged  in  car- 
rying dispatches  to  different  points  in  the  field.  Sunday,  the 
twentieth,  the  battle  again  raged  fiercely.  About  ten  o'clock  in 
the  forenoon,  General  Rosecrans  directed  Captain  Woodcock  to 
take  up  the  line  and  form  it  from  Chattanooga,  via  Rossville,  to 
his  head-quarters.  General  Rosecrans  said  the  southern  portion 
of  the  line  was  uncovered  by  his  army,  and  was  liable  to  be  cap- 
tured by  the  enemy,  if  not  at  once  taken  up.  Sending  orders  to 
remove  the  more  northerly  posts  to  the  Rossville  road,  Captain 
Woodcock  hastened  to  the  post  at  Crawfish  Springs.  The  enemy 
was  just  charging  in.  They  captured  one  ot  the  videttes.  Some 
of  the  boys,  in  the  confusion,  mingled  with  the  Rebels,  but  suc- 
ceeded in  escaping.  The  posts  were  rescued  and  formed  on  the 
Rossville  road.  The  line  was  completed  about  two  o'clock  P.  M. 
Captain  Woodcock,  with  his  reserve,  moved  in  the  direction  of 
Widow  Glenn's,  to  report  to  General  Rosecrans.  He  marched  by 
crowds  of  men  that,  in  disorder,  were  going  to  the  rear;  still  he 
.kept  on,  until  the  pattering  of  bullets  warned  him  to  halt.  On 
looking  back,  he  saw  our  troops  reforming  and  in  line  of  battle. 
Knowing  then  that  he  was  between  the  Rebel  and  Union  forces, 
he  countermarched.  He  could  learn  nothing  of  General  Rose- 
crans. Meeting  General  Garfield,  he  reported  to  him,  who  or- 
dered him  to  report  to  General  Thomas.  He  found  General 
Thomas,  who,  as  firm  as  old  rock-ribbed  Lookout,  confronted  the 
Rebels  and  held  them  at  bay.  During  the  entire  night  of  that  ter- 
rible Sabbath,  the  tall,  noble  form  of  General  Thomas  stood  erect, 
watching  his  line,  while  his  staff  officers  lay  around  him  on  the 


120  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

ground,  worn  out  and  insensible  with  fatigue.  Captain  Hawk, 
with  his  reserve,  was,  during  the  entire  battle,  with  Rosecrans. 
When  the  right  of  the  army  was  crushed,  the  General,  followed 
by  Captain  Hawk  and  his  reserve  of  Company  C,  dashed  along 
the  broken  lines,  regardless  of  shot  and  shell,  endeavoring  to  rally 
the  men.  Captain  Hawk,  by  the  General's  order,  deployed  his 
men  in  the  rear  of  the  broken  columns,  and  endeavored  to  halt  the 
retreating  mass;  but  it  was  like  attempting  to  stay  the  ocean's 
tide  by  throwing  pebbles  in  its  way. 

"  From  the  twenty-second  of  September  to  the  eleventh  of 
October,  Companies  C  and  K  were  employed  in  carrying  dis- 
patches to  the  army  surrounding  Chattanooga.  On  the  afternoon 
of  Sunday,  the  eleventh,  orders  came  to  form  a  courier  line  from 
Chattanooga,  north  along  the  summit  of  Walden's  Ridge,  to  An- 
derson's Cross  Roads,  a  distance  of  twenty-one  miles.  Companies 
C  and  K  were  at  once  stretched  out  on  this  line,  Captains  Hawk 
and  Woodcock,  with  their  reserves,  still  remaining  with  General 
Thomas.  A  famine  was  in  the  city.  The  men  were  on  one- 
fourth  rations.  The  boys  out  along  the  line  were  feasting,  while 
those  in  town  were  starving  by  slow  degrees.  They  cut  down  the 
shade  trees  and  broused  their  horses  from  the  tops.  The  horses 
becamfe  skeletons,  many  of  them  laying  down  their  bones  in  the 
streets  of  Chattanooga.  On  the  ninth  of  November,  by  order  of 
General  Thomas,  the  courier  line  was  removed  from  Walden's 
Ridge,  and  formed  from  Chattanooga  to  Bridgeport.  Captain 
Hawk,  with  his  reserve,  was  stationed  at  Bridgeport.  Captain 
Woodcock  remained  with  General  Thomas.  Lieutenant  Walker, 
of  Company  K,  with  a  courier  post,  was  stationed  at  General 
Hooker's  head-quarters,  in  Lookout  valley.  On  the  twenty-fourth 
of  November,  Hooker  fought  his  battle  above  the  clouds.  A  por- 
tion of  Companv  K,  as  couriers,  had  the  honor  to  participate  in 
that  battle.  On  the  twenty-fifth,  was  fought  the  battle  of  Mis- 
sionary Ridge.  The  reserve  at  General  Thomas's  head-quarters 
then  came  in  for  their  share  of  glory.  On  the  fourth  of  Decem- 
ber, Captains  Woodcock  and  Hawk  were  relieved,  with  their  com- 
panies, from  courier  duty,  and  ordered  to  report  to  the  Regiment. 
They  found  the  Regiment  at  Caperton's  Ferry,  Alabama,  and 
were  glad  once  more  to  be  at  home.  While  on  the  way  to  report 
to  the  Regiment,  as  they  were  crossing  Chattanooga  Creek,  near 
Lookout,  they  met  the  old  guide,  Mr.  Foster.  The  old  man's 
face  lighted  up  as  he  recognized  the  men  ot  the  Ninety-Second. 
He  told  his  story.  It  was  a  sad  one.  After  the  battle  of  Chica- 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  121 

mauga,  Lookout  Mountain  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Rebels. 
Some  designing  person  reported  to  the  Rebels  that  the  old  man 
had  acted  as  a  guide  to  the  Ninety-Second  in  forming  the  courier 
line.  His  Union  sentiments  were  also  well  known.  The  Rebels 
gave  him  a  mock  trial,  and  sentenced  him  to  be  hanged ;  and,  with 
a  rope  around  his  neck,  they  were  proceeding  to  string  him  up, 
when  an  officer  of  the  Rebel  army  rushed  forward,  and,  by  impor- 
tunities and  threats,  saved  the  old  man's  life.  The  officer  had  be- 
fore taken  up  his  quarters  at  Mr.  Foster's  house.  The  shock  to 
his  wife,  and  her  constant  fear  on  account  of  her  husband,  aggra- 
vated a  disease  that  afflicted  her,  and  caused  her  death.  The  old 
mountaineer  broke  down  in  the  middle  of  his  story.  Great  sobs 
choked  his  utterance,  and  he  wept  like  a  child." 

On  the  fifth,  the  McClellan  army  saddles  arrived  from  Nash- 
ville; the  Regiment,  up  to  this  time,  had  been  using  citizens' 
saddles  of  every  pattern.  Long  forage  was  very  scarce,  and  the 
men  gathered  from  the  cane-brakes  along  the  Tennessee  the  cane 
leaves,  which  they  brought  into  camp  in  bundles,  and  they  looked 
like  freshly -gathered  corn  blades,  and  were  eaten  with  great  relish 
by  the  animals.  On  December  seventh,  the  Colonel  returned 
from  Nashville  with  the  new  Spencer  Rifles,  which  were  issued, 
and  the  remaining  Enfields  turned  over  .to  the  Ordnance  De- 
partment. The  Regiment  was  now  well  mounted,  cavalry 
equipments  complete,  and  all  had  Spencers.  On  the  ninth,  the 
animals  began  to  die,  and  the  trouble  seemed  general.  The 
Regimental  Horse  Doctor  was  unequal  to  the  occasion,  and  the 
Regimental  Surgeon  was  called  upon  for  a  post  mortem  on  the 
defunct  horses,  and  the  result  of  his  inquest  was  the  information 
that  the  animals  were  dying  from  the  slivers  of  the  hard  center 
of  the  cane  leaves  they  were  eating  in  place  of  hay,  the  stomachs 
of  the  defunct  animals/being  stuck  full  of  these  slivers,which  had 
caused  inflammation  and  death.  For  once  the  lazy  soldiers,  too 
lazy  to  gather  the  cane  leaves  for  forage  for  their  horses,  had  the 
advantage  of  the  more  energetic  soldiers.  It  deserves  mention, 
for  it  was  the  only  instance  in  the  three  years'  service  where  lazi- 
ness was  rewarded.  The  Chief  of  Cavalry  was  informed  by 
telegraph  of  the  result  of  feeding  cane  leaves  to  the  animals,  and 
by  telegraphic  orders  he  ordered  it  discontinued  throughout  the 
Department.  For  several  days  the  animals  continued  to  die: 
there  was  no  remedy.  Old  Blutcher,  the  faithful  war-horse  of 
the  Lieutenant  Colonel,  doubtless  longed  for  a  furlough  to  the 
well  filled  barns  on  the  borders  of  his  native  Pine  Creek,  in  Ogle 


122  NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

County,  and  yielded  up  the  ghost.  Major  Bohn  embalmed 
Blutcher's  memory  in  heroic  verse,  and  sang  it  in  a  doleful  way 
to  console  the  Lieutenant  Colonel.  On  Sunday,  the  thirteenth  of 
December,  the  Chaplain  dedicated  his  log  chapel,  erected  by  him 
and  the  soldiers  who  volunteered  to  assist  him.  On  the  evening 
of  the  seventh,  the  Regimental  head-quarters  were  serenaded, 
and  there  was  much  speech-making.  It  was  a  beautiful  evening, 
and  the  music  of  the  band,  echoed  back  by  the  mountains  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Tennessee,  was  most  novel  and  beautiful.  Col- 
len  Bauden  played  a  few  notes  of  a  bugle  solo,  and  alter  a  while 
it  would  come  back,  every  note  clearly  and  distinctly  repeated 
over  and  over  again,  from  the  rocky  walls  of  the  mountain. 
During  the  night,  orders  came  to  march.  Our  winter  quarters, 
comfortable  log  cabins,  had  to  be  given  up.  On  December 
eighteenth,  the  Ninety-Second  marched  to  Bridgeport,  and  re- 
ported to  Major  General  Stanley.  On  Sunday,  the  twentieth, 
the  Regiment  crossed  on  the  pontoons  to  the  south  side  of  the 
Tennessee,  marched  three  miles,  and  went  into  camp  in  a  pine 
thicket  in  Hog-Jaw  Valley — Sus-Maxillary  Valley,  Lieutenant 
Skinner  called  it.  On  the  twenty-first,  Lieutenant  William  Cox 
left  for  "  God's  country,"  on  a  leave  of  absence.  Captain  George 
Hicks,  of  the  g6th  Illinois,  visited  the  Regiment,  and  was  sere- 
naded by  the  band,  and  he  and  many  of  the  officers  of  the 
Ninety-Second  were  called  out  for  speeches.  The  men  had  fixed 
themselves  up  very  comfortably  with  the  pine  boughs,  and  chim- 
neys to  their  tents,  a  la  Tennessee,  constructed  of  sticks,  plastered 
inside  and  outside  with  mud.  During  the  night,  orders  came 
for  the  Ninety-Second  to  join  the  brigade  at  Huntsville,  Ala- 
bama, and  the  Regiment  marched  on  the  morning  of  the  twentv- 
second,  camping  that  night  in  the  old  quarters  at  Caperton's 
Ferry.  Marched  at  daylight  on  the  twenty-third,  passing  through 
Stevenson,  and  making  a  detour  to  the  north\vard,  to  avoid  the 
swollen  streams  by  crossing  near  their  sources,  twenty-five  miles, 
and  camped  fifteen  miles  from  Stevenson,  near  Bellefonte — 
forage  for  animals  in  abundance.  Marched  early,  passing  through 
Scottsboro  and  Larkinsville.  Several  of  the  men  were  arrested 
for  shooting  hogs,  and  all  the  officers  of  the  Regiment  were  called 
up  before  the  Colonel,  who  lectured  them  like  a  Dutch  uncle  on 
their  lax  discipline.  Marched  early,  and  met  Colonel  Wilder  at 
Brownsville,  Alabama.  The  men  called  on  the  Colonel  for  a 
speech,  which  was  not  much  in  Colonel  Wilder1  s  line;  but  he  was 
received  with  great  enthusiasm  by  the  Regiment,  and  expressed 


ILLINOIS.  123 

his  gratification  at  meeting  with  the  Ninety-Second  once  more. 
Colonel  Wilder  here  received  several  boxes  of  Christmas  presents 
for  his  regiment,  which,  not  being  there,  and  the  eatables  liable  to 
spoil,  the  Colonel  turned  them  over  to  the  Ninety-Second,  and 
the  boys  feasted  on  the  nick-nacks  the  kind  Indiana  people  had 
intended  for  Colonel  Wilder's  regiment.  Marched  twenty-four 
miles,  camping  in  a  hard  rain-storm ;  but  rails  were  plenty  for 
building  shelters  for  the  men,  and  cooking.  The  Regimental 
head-quarters  were  in  a  large  farm-house,  and  those  at  head- 
quarters, so  inclined,  passed  the  evening  in  drinking  persimmon 
beer,  a  light  home-made  beverage,  prepared  from  persimmons. 
The  twenty-sixth  of  December  was  cold  and  stormy.  Marched 
early,  through  the  beautiful  city  of  Huntsville,  and  camped  on 
the  south  side  of  the  town,  a  mile  from  the  city  limits.  The 
twenty-seventh  was  Sabbath,  and  many  attended  church  in  the 
citv,  and,  for  the  first  time  in  many  months,  listened  to  a  church 
organ,  and  sacred  music  with  female  voices.  Forage  was  abund- 
ant. Salt  was  scarce,  and  Company  K  was  detailed  to  forage  for 
salt.  They  called  at  a  house  where  they  had  been  informed  they 
would  find  salt,  but  the  owner  protested  that  not  an  ounce  of  salt 
was  in  his  house.  A  young  lady,  with  great  ado,  insisted  that 
the  Yankees  should  not  search  her  room  for  salt,  but  was  evi- 
dently delighted  to  have  her  room  searched,  and  a  large  quantity 
of  salt  was  found  in  her  chamber.  She  was  a  Union  woman, 
and,  while  out  of  the  presence  of  the  owner  of  the  house,  rejoiced 
in  her  ability  to  aid  the  Yankees.  She  was  a  Northern  school- 
teacher, who  had  been  compelled,  against  her  wishes,  to  remain 
in  the  South.  A  light  snow-storm,  on  the  twenty-eighth,  re- 
minded the  North-men  of  home.  On  the  thirtieth,  Company  1 
made  a  scout  to  the  Tennessee  River,  and  captured  three  prison- 
ers and  a  ferry-boat,  which  the  company  burned.  On  the  thirty- 
first  of  December,  marched  early,  and  camped  at  Judge  Ham- 
mond's, twelve  miles  west  of  Huntsville.  It  was,  probably,  the 
coldest  night  the  Regiment  experienced  during  all  its  service, 
and  how  the  men  managed  to  keep  warm  is  yet  a  mystery.  The 
rails  were  rapidly  disappearing,  and  the  Colonel  ordered  the  men 
to  cut  down  trees,  and  get  them  well  ablaze  with  the  dry  rails, 
before  they  were  exhausted.  There  was  little  sleep  that  night. 
Standing  around  the  huge  burning  piles  of  logs,  roasting  one 
side,  and  freezing  the  other,  the  night  was  passed,  watching  the 
old  year  out,  and  the  new  year  in.  There  never  was  a  more 
picturesque  watch-meeting  held.  In  the  sombre  pine  forest,  by 


I24  N1NBTT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

their  blazing  fires,  the  Methodist  members  of  the  Regiment 
kneeled  in  prayer,  remembering  their  families  at  home,  who,  at 
the  same  hour,  were  likely  celebrating  watch-night  in  comfortable 
churches.  It  was  a  noisy  camp,  and,  with  all  the  suffering  from 
intense  cold,  it  was  a  jolly  crowd  that  made  the  woods  ring  with 
their  shouts  and  songs.  "  Judge"  Hammond  (probably  called 
Judge  because  he  was  a  good  judge  of  a  negro,)  was .  the 
great  landlord  of  the  region.  Originally  himself  a  "  poor  white 
man,"  a  class  looked  down  upon  even  by  the  negroes,  he  had, 
by  engaging  in  the  profitable  employment  of  raising  negroes  for 
the  market,  and  strict  attention  to  business,  with  careful  economy, 
amassed  a  fortune,  and  bought  up  the  smaller  plantations  around 
him,  until  he  owned  hundreds,  and  perhaps  thousands,  of  acres. 
From  his  house  could  be  seen  many  chimney  stacks,  once  the 
location  of  the  plantation  buildings  of  separate  plantations  that 
his  had  swallowed  up.  He  said  he  had  seldom  bought  a  planta- 
tion, except  when  his  neighbor  had  run  into  debt  and  died,  and 
it  had  been  sold  by  the  administrators.  He  was  asked  what 
became  of  the  families  then,  and  replied  that  they  were  crowded 
back  into  the  poor  lands  among  the  hills,  and  soon  sank  into  the 
mass  of  "poor  white  trash."  His  plantation  is  in  Limestone 
County,  one  of  the  richest  and  most  productive  counties  in 
Northern  Alabama,  Huntsville  being  the  Court  House  town,  with 
a  population  of  about  five  thousand,  a  new  city  grown  up  within 
a  decade;  and  yet  the  population  of  the  County,  notwithstanding 
the  growth  of  Huntsville,  which  had  a  remarkable  growth  for  a 
Southern  town,  was  actually  receding  year  by  year,  owing  to  the 
process  of  the  consolidation  of  small  plantations  into  large  ones. 
And  the  poor  whites  who  were  driven  to  the  hills  by  this  pro- 
cess !  We  have  no  language  to  describe  their  unfortunate  and 
hopeless  condition.  Even  the  wealthy,  who,  by  the  extravagance 
or  improvidence  of  the  heads  of  families,  were  plunged  into  this 
hopeless  state,  rapidly  sank  into  a  condition  lower  than  the  negro 
slaves.  Without  schools,  or  churches,  or  a  ray  of  hope  in  the 
future,  ambition  dead,  virtue  and  intelligence  decaying, — their 
condition  was  indeed  a  sad  one!  And,  with  prayer  and  song, 
and  shout  and  story,  the  old  year  of  1863  went  out,  and  the  young 
new  year  of  1864  was  welcomed  in  by  the  Ninety-Second  around 
their  camp-fires,  on  the  great  plantation  of  Judge  Hammond. 
During  the  vear,  the  Ninety-Second,  plodding  on  foot,  or  on 
horseback,  had  marched  fifteen  hundred  and  fifty-eight  miles. 
•  Welcome,  New  Year !  But,  oh,  how  cold !  How  clear  the 


NINBTT-SBCOND   ILLINOIS.  1*5 

bugles  rang  out  on  the  frosty  air  when  "  boot  and  saddle"  was 
sounded  from  head-quarters,  and  was  repeated  in  the  companies. 
The  roads  were  horrible,  exceedingly  rough  on  the  hills,  and 
frozen  in  the  lowlands  strong  enough  to  bear  a  man,  but  not  a 
horse ;  marching  along,  the  men  on  foot  to  keep  from  freezing, 
and  the  horses  breaking  the  ice  as  they  went,  until  the  horses'  fet- 
locks were  bleeding,  cutting  the  strong  new  ice!  Napoleon's 
army,  retreating  from  Moscow,  did  not  march  on  a  colder  day. 
Late,  in  the  afternoon  the  Regiment  went  into  camp,  the  men  very 
weary,  having  marched  on  foot  most  of  the  day  to  keep  warm. 
The  camp  was  at  Elkmont  Springs,  a  summer  resort,  and  the  cot- 
tages were  taken  possession  of  by  the  men  for  quarters.  They  all 
had  fireplaces,  and  the  men  soon  made  themselves  comfortable. 
One  negro  boy,  an  officer's  servant,  while  bringing  forage  from  a 
cornfield,  had  his  arms  and  legs  so  badly  frozen  that  both  arms 
and  both  legs  were  amputated.  During  the  day  Company  B 
scouted  for  horses  and  mules,  and  captured  seventeen.  Marched 
on  the  second,  at  noon,  twelve  miles,  to  Prospect,  and  camped  in 
the  woods  near  Elk  River.  Marched  on  the  third,  at  noon,  in  a 
sleet  and  rain  storm,  and  camped  five  miles  south  of  Pulaski,  Ten- 
nessee. Marched  again  at  noon,  and  camped  half  a  mile  south  of 
Pulaski,  where  the  Regiment  lay  in  camp  several  days.  From 
the  fourth  to  the  ninth  the  weather  remained  very  cold,  the  ground 
covered  with  snow,  and  men  and  animals  suffered  greatly.  On 
the  tenth,  the  weather  moderated  considerably.  N.  G.  Collins, 
Chaplain  of  the  Fifty-Seventh  Illinois,  delivered  an  interesting  and 
amusing  lecture,  and  offered  his  printed  address  for  sale.  Captain 
Albert  Woodcock,  of  Company  K,  was  detailed  as  Provost  Mar- 
shal of  the  Second  Division  of  Cavalry.  On  the  twelfth  of  January, 
the  Ninety-Second  marched  thirteen  miles  on  its  return  to  Hunts- 
ville,  and  camped  amid  plenty.  Marched  at  daylight,  on  the  thir- 
teenth, and  again  camped  on  Judge  Hammond's  plantation.  On 
the  fourteenth,  marched  at  daylight;  passed  through  Huntsville, 
and  camped  on  the  pike  two  miles  north  of  the  city,  and  went  to 
fixing  up  permanent  camp.  The  next  day  was  fine  and  warm, 
and  the  men  fixed  up  their  quarters  comfortably  for  a  long  stav. 
Forage  was  abundant,  and  the  railroad  brought  plenty  of  rations. 
On  the  sixteenth,  many  of  the  men  having  left  camp  and  gone  to 
the  city  without  permission,  a  line  guard  was  put  around  the  Reg- 
iment for  the  first  time  in  ten  months.  The  men  did  not  like  it, 
and  did  not  perform  their  duty  in  just  the  manner  that  experienced 
soldiers  ought  to  have  done.  One  of  the  guards  commanded  a 


w6  NINETT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

dog  that  was  passing  the  lines  to  halt,  and,  as  the  dog  didn't,  he 
blazed  away  at  it.  Soldiers  returning  to  camp  were  permitted  to 
slip  in  between  the  guards  unobserved.  One  of  the  boys  writes 
in  his  diary:  "The  Colonel  got  mad,  and  put  just  three  times 
the  usual  guards  on  duty.  The  men  concluded  it  wouldn't  pay  to 
fool  around  any  more,  and  guard  duty  was  better  done  after  that." 
On  the  nineteenth,  the  ground  was  covered  with  snow;  the  Regi- 
ment was  ordered  to  march,  but  the  order  was  countermanded. 
The  twentieth  was  delightfully  warm,  and  the  snow  melted  off. 
On  the  twenty-third,  the  Regiment  marched  with  the  brigade 
early,  and  camped  on  Limestone  Creek,  fifteen  miles  west  of 
Huntsville.  On  the  .twenty-fourth,  marched  at  daylight  through 
Athens,  a  town  burned  up  by  General  Turchin.  When  that  fight- 
ing Teuton  first  entered  Athens  with  his  brigade,  the  enemy 
fought  him  in  the  streets,  and  the  citizens,  it  was  said,  fired  upon 
the  Yankees  from  the  windows  of  the  houses.  The  burly  Turchin, 
it  is  reported,  said  to  his  men,  camped  about  the  town :  "  Boys,  I 
shuts  mine  eyes  f9r  shust  one  hour — I  sees  netting."  When  he 
opened  his  eyes  again  Athens  was  in  flames  and  hopelessly  ruined. 
Camped  at  Rogersville.  On  January  twenty-fifth,  the  Ninety- 
Second  marched  at  daylight,  in  the  advance,  and  at  ifbon  crossed 
Shoal  Creek,  and,  when  about  one  mile  west  of  the  creek,  the  ad- 
vance was  fired  upon  by  a  picket  on  the  left  of  the  column,  on  a 
road  leading  to  Bainbridge  Ferry,  across  the  Tennessee  River,  at 
the  foot  of  Muscle  Shoals.  Captain  Becker,  with  fifty  men,  was 
ordered  to  charge  them,  and  he  did  it  splendidly,  charging  down 
to  the  river's  edge,  about  a  mile.  He  captured  three  of  the  enemy, 
and  drove  the  others  around  the  base  of  the  bluff,  where  they  took 
to  shelter,  dismounted  among  the  rocks,  leaving  their  horses  on 
the  river's  beach.  A  ferry-boat,  with  an  ambulance  loaded  with 
the  enemy,  nearly  across  the  river,  returned  to  the  other  shore. 
The  Rebel  General  Roddy's  command  was  on  the  opposite  bank, 
and  had  rifle  pits  which  commanded  the  approach  to  the  ferry  on 
our  side  of  the  river.  The  men  among  the  rocks  were  commanded 
to  surrender;  but  their  friends  opposite  told  them  to  lie  still,  that 
the  Yanks  could  not  get  at  them ;  and  we  could  not,  without 
running  the  gauntlet  of  the  enemy's  fire,  and  likely  losing  more 
men  than  we  should  capture  by  the  effort.  There  were  twenty 
horses,  and  probably  twenty  men,  under  the  bluff.  We  could  see 
the  horses,  but  the  men  were  concealed  among  the  rocks.  The 
horses  were  all  shot,  and,  bidding  the  Johnnies  good-bye,  the 
Ninety-Second  was  withdrawn,  and  Captain  M.  Van  Buskirk,  of 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  127 

Company  E,  with  four  companies,  was  ordered  to  march  rapidly 
to  Florence.  He  started,  but  only  a  mile  or  so  away,  near  the 
Sweetwater,  ran  into  the  enemy,  who  had  a  strong  line  flanking  a 
log  house,  and  the  house  itself  was  full  of  the  enemy,  who  used  it 
as  a  fort,  knocking  out  the  chinking  to  fire  through  between  the 
logs.  Captain  Van  Buskirk  charged  them  on  horseback;  but, 
finding  a  heavy  force,  the  men  slipped  off  from  the  horses,  and  lay 
down  in  the  grass  and  weeds.  While  lying  there,  with  the  open  field 
surrounding  the  log  house  in  front  of  them,  Captain  Becker  told 
Company  I,  "  By  jingo,  boys,  we  will  have  to  charge  over  that 
field,  for  I  lost  my  hat  out  there."  He  did  not  wait  long  for  an 
opportunity  to  recover  his  hat.  The"  brigade  moved  up  and  dis- 
mounted two  regiments,  and  the  line  had  just  commenced  ad- 
vancing to  the  support  of  the  four  companies,  when  Captain  Van 
Buskirk  ordered  his  four  companies  to  charge  on  foot.  Forward 
they  went,  receiving  a  hot  fire  from  the  log  house,  and  the  two 
Rebel  regiments  flanking  it;  but  they  routed  the  Rebels,  captur- 
ing twenty  prisoners,  and  killing  fifteen  of  the  enemy,  and  prob- 
ably wounding  twice  that  number.  Our  loss,  all  in  the  Ninety- 
Second,  was:  Captain  Horace  J.  Smith,  Company  B,  wounded, 
musket  bal!  through  his  arm;  Corporal  J.  A.  Colehour,  Company 
I,  wounded  in  shoulder — the  Corporal  had  been  home  with  a 
wound  received  at  Chicamauga,  and  had  just  returned  to  the  Reg- 
iment; private  Andrew  Drafferty,  Company  B,  wounded;  private 
William  B.  Smith,  Company  F,  wounded;  private  Jeremiah  Lam- 
bert, Company  F,  wounded;  private  David  O'Brien,  Company  I, 
wounded;  private  Henry  K.  Hapster,  Company  F,  wounded. 
Among  the  fifteen  of  the  enemy  killed,  were  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Wynans  and  Captain  Ingraham,  of  the  Fourth  Alabama  Confed- 
erate Cavalry.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Wynans  was  in  command  of 
the  two  regiments,  and  on  his  body  were  found  marching  orders. 
He  had  been  directed  to  make  a  junction  with  the  forces  that  had 
just  commenced  crossing  the  Tennessee  River  at  Bainbridge 
Ferry — the  force  that  Captain  Becker  had  turned  back  by  his 
charge — and  with  them  to  attack  Athens  at  daylight  the  next 
morning,  where  he  was  informed  that  a  column  of  dismounted 
men,  with  artillery,  would  aid  him;  the  last-mentioned  column  to 
cross  the  Tennessee  River  after  dark,  immediately  south  of  Athens 
— the  three  Rebel  columns  striking  Athens  at  daylight.  By  these 
marching  orders,  captured  from  the  dead  body  of  Lieutenant  Col- 
onel Wynans,  commanding  one  of  the  Rebel  columns,  we  were 
placed  in  possession  of  the  Rebel  plan  of  the  attack  on  Athens. 


128  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

Manifestly,  having  turned  back  two  of  the  Rebel  columns,  the 
only  thing  left  for  us  to  do  was  to  make  a  night  march,  striking 
the  Tennessee  River  south  of  Athens  at  daylight,  and  cut  off  the 
only  column  left  of  the  Rebel  attacking  force.  Colonel  Miller, 
commanding  the  brigade,  decided  upon  that  course,  and  the  com- 
mand countermarched;  and  a  mile  east  of  Shoal  Creek  bivouaced 
and  fed  animals,  and  resumed  the  march  at  eleven  o'clock  P.  M. 
At  four  A.  M.,  of  the  next  day,  halted  to  make  coffee  and  feed  ani- 
mals, when  Lieutenant  Colonel  Phillips,  with  a  portion  of  the 
Eighth  Illinois  Mounted  Infantry,  from  Athens,  came  up,  and 
Colonel  Miller,  taking  his  advice,  again  countermarched  upon 
Florence.  About  nine  o'clock,  a  courier  came  from  Athens,  with 
information  that  the  Rebels  had  made  an  attack  upon  Athens  at 
daylight;  but,  not  being  supported  by  the  cavalry  they  expected, 
and  learning  that  Wilder's  brigade  and  the  Eighth  Illinois  were 
out  on  the  Florence  road,  they  feared  that  they  would  be  cut  off 
from  their  retreat  to  the  south  side  of  the  Tennessee,  as  they  ought 
to  have  been,  and  would  have  been  had  Colonel  Miller  acted  reso- 
lutely upon  the  information  in  his  possession,  taken  from  the  body 
of  the  Confederate  Lieutenant  Colonel  Wynans.  The  column 
was  again  countermarched,  and  started  for  the  Tennessee  River, 
south  of  Athens;  but  the  opportunity  had  been  lost,  and,  on  reach- 
ing a  point  eight  miles  west  of  Athens,  a  courier  came  with  infor- 
mation that  the  enemy  had  made  safe  his  retreat  across  the  river. 
The  command  camped  in  Athens  that  night.  On  the  twenty- 
seventh,  marched  from  Athens  toward  Huntsville  twentv-five 
miles,  and  camped  on  Limestone  Creek.  Marched  at  daylight, 
and  camped  at  Huntsville.  On  the  thirtieth,  marched  at  eight  A. 
M.,  fourteen  miles,  to  Trianna,  on  the  Tennessee  River,  south  of 
Huntsville,  at  the  mouth  of  Indian  Creek,  for  the  purpose  of  being 
near  ibrage,  and  to  recruit  the  animals,  where  the  Regiment  re- 
mained until  the  third  of  April.  It  was  a  beautiful  camp,  but 
there  is  little  to  record  while  the  Regiment  lay  at  Trianna. 

On  the  first  of  February,  there  was  a  very  heavy  rain-fall, 
and  the  camp  was  ditched  to  carry  off  the  water.  On  the  second, 
thirty  recruits  from  Illinois  joined  the  Regiment.  On  the  sev- 
enth of  February,  the  Chaplain  preached  to  citizens  and  soldiers, 
in  the  church  at  Trianna.  On  the  eighth,  the  Regiment  was 
inspected  by  Brigadier  General  Elliott,  Chief  of  Cavalry.  On 
the  ninth,  the  Regiment  received  two  months'  pay.  On  the  fif- 
teenth, a  scouting  party  of  the  enemy  was  found  on  the  north 
side  of  the  Tennessee,  and  four  of  them  captured.  On  the 


NINETY -SECOND    ILLINOIS.  129 

eighteenth,  there  was  quite  a  snow-storm.  On  the  twenty-fourth, 
five  prisoners  were  captured.  On  the  night  of  the  twenty-fifth, 
there  was  considerable  picket  firing,  and  the  troops  were  in  line 
early  on  the  twenty-sixth.  On  the  twenty-seventh,  several  pro- 
fessed religion,  the  Chaplain  having  succeeded  in  getting  up  a 
revival  in  the  Regiment  at  Trianna.  The  month  of  March  came 
in  with  snow  and  rain,  but  the  snow  melted  off  immediately,  and 
the  trees  were  beginning  to  bud.  On  the  fourth  of  March,  the 
Regiment  commenced  playing  town-ball,  and  it  had  quite  a  run. 
The  weather  was  very  fine.  On  the  eighth,  a  soldier  writes  in 
his  diary :  "  In  going  through  the  Regiment  to-day,  the  men 
may  be  seen  in  their  tents;  some  reading  the  papers;  others,  old 
books,  which  they  have  found  in  the  country ;  some  writing,  and 
some  playing  cards;  while  out  of  the  tents,  wicket  ball,  base  ball, 
and  pitching  quoits  are  going  on.  At  night,  music  and  dancing 
are  going  on  in  camp."  Fishing  for  bull-heads,  in  Indian  Creek, 
was  a  part  of  the  passtime.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Sheets  sat,  one 
day,  four  hours,  out  on  a  log,  patiently  waiting  for  a  bite ;  he  got 
one,  just  one,  and,  attempting  to  pull  out  the  fish,  lost  his  balance 
and  his  fishing  pole;  scrambling' up,  he  grabbed  his  pole1,  but  the 
fish  had  departed!  The  Lieutenant  Colonel  was  disconsolate, 
and  never  more  went  fishing  in  Indian  Creek.  On  the  fourteenth 
of  March,  stringent  orders  came  from  Department  head-quarters 
against  foraging  for  food  in  the  country,  or  burning  rails,  lor  the 
reason  that  it  was  desirable  that  the  country  north  of  the  Tennes- 
see should  be  cultivated,  that  it  might  furnish  forage  for  men  and 
animals  another  winter.  On  the  twenty-second,  there  was  six 
inches  of  snow  in  the  morning;  and  on  the  twenty-third,  great 
sport  was  had,  four  companies  against  six,  snowballing,  and 
occasionally  some  one  would  get  a  winder  in  the  face  with  a  hard- 
packed  ball,  and  then  there  would  be  balling  of  a  different  nature. 
The  snow-battle  lasted  until  the  snow  was  gone,  and  it  resulted 
in  a  drawn  battle,  for  the  lack  of  ammunition  on  both  sides — the 
only  instance  where  the  opposing  forces  exhausted  their  ammu- 
nition simultaneously.  On  the  twenty-ninth,  the  new  Sutler 
came  with  a  stock  of  goods,  the  first  for  the  Ninety-Second  since 
leaving  Franklin,  Tennessee.  On  the  first  of  April,  the  entire 
Regiment,  officers  and  men,  spent  the  dav  in  April-fooling  each 
other.  It  is  only  fair  to  say  that  the  officers  suffered  most  in  the 
sport.  On  the  second  of  April,  orders  came  to  inarch;  and  that 
evening  the  camp  was  tilled  with  the  people  from  miles  around — 
come  to  see  the  last  dress-parade,  listen  for  the  last  time  to  Collen 
ifl 


130  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

Bauden's  excellent  Silver  Band,  and  hear  the  Glee  Club  sing  its 
farewell  songs.  During  the  time  the  Regiment  was  at  Trianna, 
Lieutenant  Skinner,  of  Company  D,  was  Chief  of  Scouts,  with 
about  twenty  brave  fellows  under  him.  They  spent  their  time 
riding  around  the  country,  occasionally  capturing  a  Johnny  home 
on  furlough,  and  interviewing  the  secesh  lassies,  which,  by  the 
way,  the  Lieutenant  assumed  was  a  duty  to  be  performed  by  the 
Chief  of  Scouts  in  person.  One  morning,  hearing  from  the 
colored  people  that  a  Rebel  soldier  was  home,  the  Lieutenant  and 
his  scouts  set  out  for  his  house.  The  ladies  declared  he  was  not 
there;  but  the  Lieutenant  made  himself  agreeable,  and  soon  had 
the  confidence  of  the  old  lady,  who  told  him  her  son's  name,  his 
company  and  regiment,  the  name  of  his  Captain,  his  Colonel, 
and  Brigade  Commander;  and  told  him  her  son  had  been  home, 
but  had  returned,  and  informed  him  at  what  ferry  he  had  crossed 
the  Tennessee.  The  Lieutenant,  suspicioning  that  her  son  was 
in  the  bush — that  is,  hid  away  in  the  woods — concluded  to  try  a 
ruse.  He  waited  until  night-fall,  then  went  to  the  ferry  where  the 
Rebel  soldier  had  crossed  the  Tennessee,  hallooed  across,  and  was 
soon  answered  by  the  Rebel  picket,  who  inquired  who  was  there 
and  what  was  wanted.  The  Lieutenant  answered,  giving  the 
name  of  the  Rebel  soldier,  his  company  and  regiment,  his  Colo- 
nel's name,  and  the  name  of  the  Brigade  Commander,  and  said 
he  wanted  to  come  across.  It  seemed  so  straight  that  the  Rebel 
picket  manned  the  ferry-boat  with  five  men,  and  came  over  the 
river  with  it,  but  found  the  Lieutenant  and  his  scouts,  with  a 
demand  to  surrender,  at  the  moment  of  landing.  Of  course  they 
did  so;  they  could  not  help  it.  The  boat  was  burned,  and  the 
prisoners  brought  .to  camp.  Patrolling  the  river  bank  one  dav, 
the  Lieutenant's  quick  eyes  detected  a  spot  on  the  beach,  where  a 
skiff  had  been  recently  landed,  and,  suspicioning  that  it  might 
land  again,  returned  after  dark  with  his  scouts,  and  lay  concealed 
and  quiet  for  hours,  when  they  heard  the  snorting  of  horses  swim- 
ming in  the  river.  Waiting  a  while,  a  dug-out,  just  large  enough  to 
hold  two  men,  came  to  the  shore,  two  men  in  the  boat,  and  two 
horses  swimming  by  its  side.  The  men  in  the  boat  had  no 
chance  but  to  surrender,  and  one  of  them  was  John  Morgan's 
Chief  of  Scouts,  armed  with  two  revolvers.  He  declared  it  had 
always  been  his  intention  never  to  surrender  alive;  but,  in  that 
little  boat,  with  twenty  men  around  him,  and  no  chance  to  fight, 
he  had  no  other  course.  The  horses  were  fine  animals,  and 
both  men  shrewd  and  cunning.  They  were  taken  to  Huntsville, 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  131 

and,  by  the  aid  of  Rebel  friends  there,  and  such  stories  as  they 
concocted,  they  were  both  released,  by  General  Crook,  to  return 
with  the  very  information  John  Morgan  had  sent  them  to  obtain. 
On  the  morning  of  April  third,  the  Regiment  marched  at  day- 
light for  Madison  Station  and  Huntsville.  When  crossing  the 
marsh  bordering  Limestone  Creek,  the  men  scattered  out  to  the 
side  of  the  road.  The  Colonel  told  them  it  was  better  to  keep 
in  the  middle  of  the  road,  but  the  men  had  been  over  the  road 
oftener  than  the  Colonel,  and  probably  knew  the  road  better;  but 
the  Colonel  kept  in  the  old  road.  It  was  so  cold  that  ice  had 
formed  over  the  pools  of  water;  and  his  horse  breaking  the  ice, 
the  Colonel  kept  on,  until  he  came  to  a  little  bridge  beyond  which 
was  a  pool  frozen  over.  His  horse  halted,  but  he  gave  him  the 
spurs,  and  he  sprang  forward,  and  went  all  over  under  in  the 
deep  hole.  The  Colonel  was  in  a  sorry  plight,  when  he  was 
pulled  out  of  the  mud  by  his  Orderly,  and  the  Regiment  had  a 
good  laugh.  His  Orderly  scrubbed  him  oft"  with  a  horse-brush, 
in  the  swift  water  of  Limestone  Creek;  and,  nearly  frozen,  the 
Colonel  dashed  ahead,  to  find  a  house  at  which  to  warm,  and  get 
on  a  dry  suit.  The  Regiment  went  into  camp  four  miles  south  of 
Huntsville,  when  orders  came  detaching  the  Regiment  from 
Wilder's  Brigade,  and  assigning  it  to  the  Third  Brigade,  Third 
Cavalry  Division,  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  with  orders  to  report 
to  General  Thomas,  at  Ringgold,  Georgia.  "  Boot  and  saddle" 
was  at  once  sounded,  and  the  Regiment  marched  through  Hunts- 
ville in  column  of  sections,%the  band,  mounted  on  white  horses, 
leading,  and  received  from  General  Gerrard,  the  then  Commander 
of  the  Cavalry  Division  at  Huntsville,  the  compliment  of  his 
saying  that  the  Ninety-Second  was  the  finest  Regiment  in  his 
command;  but  it  was  not  in  his  command;  it  was  already  march- 
ing to  report  to  General  Thomas.  The  Regiment  camped  two 
miles  north  of  Huntsville,  and  drew  rations  for  its  march  to 
Ringgold. 


i32  N1NBTT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  V. 

FROM  HUNTSVILLE  TO  RlNGGOLD — BEAUTIFUL  CAMP  AT  RlNG- 
GOLD — THE  MASSACRE  AT  NICKOJACK — RECONNOISSANCES 
UNDER  KILPATRICK — NlCKOJACK  AVENGED — LIEUTENANT 
COLONEL  SHEETS  AND  MAJOR  BOHN  COMPLIMENTED  IN 
RESOLUTIONS — GENERAL  MOVEMENT  OF  SHERMAN'S  ARMY 
AGAINST  Jo  JOHNSTON — KILPATRICK  WOUNDED — RESECA — 
GUARDING  THE  RAILROAD — KILPATRICK  RETURNS — OUT- 
POST DUTY  ON  THE  CHATTAHOOCHEE — DAVE  BOYLE'S  CAP- 
TURE AND  ESCAPE — BAND  HORSES  GOBBLED — LAYING  PON- 
TOONS AT  SANDTOWN — CUTTING  RAILROADS  AT  WEST 
POINT — RAIDING  AROUND  THE  REBEL  ARMY  AT  ATLANTA — 
NIGHT  FIGHTING  AT  JONESBORO-- KILPATRICK,  SURROUNDED, 
CUTS  HIS  WAY  OUT — SWIMMING  COTTON  RIVER — SAVING 
THE  BRIDGE  ACROSS  FLINT  RIVER — BRILLIANT  DIVERSION 
ON  THE  RIGHT  OF  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  TENNESSEE — GLASS'S 
BRIDGE — FALL  OF  ATLANTA — THE  SUMMER'S  CAMPAIGN 
ENDED. 

On  the  morning  of  April  fourth,  1864,  the  Ninety-Second  took 
up  its  line  of  march  from  Huntsville  eastward,  in  a  driving  rain 
storm,  which  continued  all  day.  -  The  Regiment  marched  thirty- 
three  miles.  Marched  at  daylight,  and  camped  at  Bellefonte. 
Marched  at  daylight,  and,  owing  to  high  water,  had  to  seek  the 
sources  of  the  streams,  and,  after  marching  thirty  miles,  camped 
ten  miles  from  Bellefonte.  Reached  Bridgeport  on  the  seventh, 
at  noon,  and  camped  on  old  ground,  awaiting  wagon-trains,  and 
shoeing  animals.  The  Regiment  left  Bridgeport  at  davlight,  on 
April  tenth,  crossing  the  Tennessee  on  pontoons  for  the  eleventh 
and  last  time;  and  marched  over  the  winding,  rough,  mountain 
road,  traveled  by  the  army  trains  until  it  was  almost  impassable, 
some  points  being  literally  corduroyed  with  the  carcasses  of  dead 
animals.  It  is  said  that,  in  the  climate  of  South  America,  the 
atmosphere  is  so  dry  and  pure  that  beef  will  cure  perfectly  in  the 
open  air  without  salt,  and  that  the  roads  are  there  mended  with 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  133 

sides  of  fresh  beef.  The  steamboat  landing,  at  Pittsburg 
Landing,  Tennessee,  was  paved  with  sides  of  bacon ;  but  the  only 
road,  probably,  ever  seen  in  North  America  corduroyed  with  the 
carcasses  of  mules  and  horses,  was  passed  over  in  this  day's 
march.  Passed  Shellmound  and  Nickojack  Cave,  where  General 
Andrew  Jackson  fought  a  battle  with  the  Cherokee  Indians. 
Marched  at  daylight — roads  horrible — wound  around  over  the 
rocky,  brow  of  Lookout  Mountain  for  the  last  time,  and  camped 
at  Rossville,  Georgia.  The  Colonel  reported  in  person  to  the 
Chief  of  Cavalry,  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  Brigadier  General 
Elliott,  in  Chattanooga:  and,  on  the  Colonel's  representing  that 
many  men  in  the  Regiment  were  without  horses,  he  was  in- 
formed, by  General  Elliott,  that  mounted  infantry  regiments 
must  not  expect  to  get  horses  until  after  all  the  cavalry  were 
mounted;  and  that  all  the  cavalry  never  would  be  mounted. 
•  The  Colonel  protested  against  such  treatment  of  his  Regiment, 
and,  in  a  stormy  intervieAv,  insisted  that,  as  long-as  his  Regiment 
was  serving,  by  proper  orders,  with  the  cavalry,  it  should  receive 
the  same  treatment  as  the  cavalry.  Elliott,  like  all  the  Regular 
Army  officers,  had  a  dislike  for  mounted  infantry.  They  all 
insisted  on  the  European  idea  of  cavalry,  armed  with  short-range 
carbines,  pistols  and  sabres ;  until  that  notion  was  taken  out  of  them, 
the  cavalry  in  the  Western  Army  was  alwavs  a  nuisance.  They 
had  to  meet  Forrest  and  Wheeler,  in  a  rough,  wooded,  mountain- 
ous country,  with  no  chance  for  cavalry  charges,  except  in  column 
of  fours,  on  roads  always  barricaded  at  frequent  intervals,  and 
the  enemy  fighting,  dismounted,  from  behind  barricades,  fences, 
ditches,  in  the  thick  woods,  and  armed  with  long-range  Missis- 
sippi rifles.  It  is  an  old  saying  that  you  must  fight  fire  with 
fire ;  and  it  is  true  that,  if  you  fight  an  enemy  successfully,  you 
must  fight  as  he  fights,  and  with  weapons  such  as  he  uses.  If 
his  men  are  dismounted,  and  armed  with  long-range  rifles,  and 
take  advantage  of  stumps,  ditches,  trees,  woods,  barricades  and 
houses,  you  must  fight  him  dismounted,  with  long-range 
weapons,  and  take  like  advantage  of  stumps,  ditches,  trees, 
woods,  barricades,  and  houses.  You  might  as  well  charge  a 
scattered  band  of  Comanche  Indians  with  a  squadron  of  heavy 
European  cavalry,  as  to  have  attempted  to  fight  Forrest  or 
Wheeler  after  the  manner  of  European  cavalry  movements. 
The  cavalry  was  always  getting  into  a  tight  place,  and  calling  on 
the  Ninety-Second,  with  their  long-range  Spencer  Repeating 
Rifles,  and  fighting  on  foot,  to  help  them  out;  and  the  Ninety- 


134  NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

Second  always  did  it;  and  here  was  the  Chief  of  Cavalry,  of  the 
Department  of  the  Cumberland,  insulting  the  Regiment  openly 
by  declaring  that  the  men  might  go  on  foot  until  all  the  cavalry 
were  mounted,  and  that  the  cavalry  never  would  be  mounted. 
The  Colonel  resented,  with  hot  words,  the  insult  put  upon  his 
men,  and  won  the  enmity  of  the  West  Pointer. 

At  Rossville,  a  large  number  of  recruits  joined  the  Regiment, 
all  dismounted,  and  armed  with  old  Burnside  carbines — no  better 
for  actual  service  with  the  Ninety-Second  than  potato  pop-guns. 
Marched  early  on  April  twelfth,  eighteen  miles,  to  Ringgold, 
Georgia,  and  went  into  camp.  The  Colonel  reported  to  General 
Thomas,  and  protested  hotly  against  the  treatment  his  Regiment 
was  receiving  from  General  Elliott,  and  insisted  that  his  rights  in 
the  cavalry  were  precisely  on  a  par  with  the  cavalry  regiments. 
On  the  thirteenth,  the  Regiment  camped  on  ground  that  had 
been  long  occupied  by  a  mule  train,  the  muddiest,  filthiest  spot 
to  be  found,  but  also  the  highest,  being  on  the  brow  of  a  hill.  All 
hands  went  to  work  cleaning  up  camp,  grading  and  leveling,  and 
laying  it  out  in  regular  order.  The  pickets  of  the  Ninety-Second 
were  attacked,  but  the  attack  was  repulsed  without  loss  on  our 
side,  and  with  a  loss  of  one  Rebel  killed,  and  two  captured. 
The  fourteenth  was  spent  in  planting  evergreens  throughout  the 
camp,  and  by  two  days'  labor,  the  filthies  spot  the  Regiment  ever 
camped  upon  was  converted  into  the  cleanest  and  handsomest 
camp  the  Regiment  ever  occupied.  Lieutenant  Colonel  B.  F. 
Sheets  tendered  his  resignation,  on  account  of  business  reasons, 
and  Major  John  H.  Bohn  tendered  his  resignation,  on  Surgeon's 
certificate  of  disability.  On  the  fifteenth,  Colonel  R.  G.  Minty 
relieved  the  Colonel  of  the  Ninetv-Second  of  the  command  of 
the  brigade.  On  April  sixteenth,  was  held  the  first  dress-parade 
since  leaving  Trianna.  On  the  seventeenth,  Brigadier  General 
Judson  Kilpatrick  assumed  command  of  the  Cavalry  Divison. 
The  Colonel  had  an  interview  with  General  Kilpatrick,  and  de- 
tailed the  conversation  of  General  Elliott,  at  Chattanooga,  and 
insisted  that  it  was  simply  right  and  just  that  the  Ninety-Second 
should  not  be  made  the  tail  end  of  the  cavalry,  but  should  be 
placed  upon  a  par  with  the  cavalry  in  drawing  horses,  and  in  all 
other  particulars.  General  Kilpatrick  promised  that  the  Regi- 
ment should  be  supplied  with  horses,  and  be  treated  in  the  future 
just  the  same,  in  regard  to  all  things,  as  cavalry  regiments  of  his 
division.  It  is  but  just  to  sav  that  General  Kilpatrick  kept  his 
promise,  and  never  afterward  did  the  Ninety-Second  make  com- 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  135 

plaint  ot"  not  receiving  horses,  clothing,  and  rations,  in  precisely 
the  same  quantities  that  the  cavalry  received  them.  There  was 
only  one  point  of  difference  between  General  Kilpatrick  and  the 
Colonel  in  this  interview  :  the  General  insisted  that  the  Colonel 
should  turn  over  his  long-range  Spencer  Rifles,  and  draw  carbines 
and  sabres,  the  General  saying  that  he  always  fought  at  short 
range,  and  wanted  every  man  to  have  a  sabre.  But  the  Colonel 
explained  the  manner  in  which  Forrest  and  'Wheeler  fought,  the 
rough  and  wooded  nature  of  the  country,  and  begged  the  General 
to  wait  until  he  had  at  least  one  skirmish  with  the  enemy,  and 
saw  the  Ninety-Second  in  action,  before  he  took  from  them  their 
long-range  Spencer  Repeating  Rifles.  To  that  General  Kilpatrick 
consented ;  and  he  never  afterward  desired  to  take  away  from  the 
Ninety-Second  their  Spencer  Rifles. 

It  was  thought  necessary  to  keep  a  picket  post  eight  miles 
away  from  camp  at  Nickojack.  It  was  a  dangerous  place.  Its 
danger  was  represented  bv  the  Colonel  to  the  commanding  officers, 
in  a  written  communication  sent  to  the  Department  head- 
quarters through  regular  channels;  but  no  attention  was  paid  to 
it.  The  brigade  was  made  up  of  three  regiments  of  Kentucky 
cavalry  and  the  Ninety-Second ;  and  the  influence  of  the  Colonel 
of  the  Ninety-Second  never  amounted  to  anything  in  that 
brigade.  They  were  all  Kentuckians;  and  while  many  Ken- 
tuckians  disliked  traitors,  it  was  only  a  feeble  feeling  in  compari- 
son to  the  bitter  hatred  with  which  nearly  all  Kentuckians  looked 
upon  an  Abolitionist. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  April,  the  Regiment  was  received 
and  inspected  by  Brigadier  General  Elliott,  in  company  with 
Major  General  Thomas,  and  General  Elliott  was  pleased  to 
boast  considerably  to  General  Thomas,  in  the  presence  of  the 
members  of  the  Regiment,  claiming  that  the  Ninety-Second  had 
the  cleanest  and  handsomest  camp  of  any  regiment,  infantry  or 
cavalry,  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland;  and  General  Thomas 
admitted  that  no  regiment  in  his  Department  had  a  cleaner  or 
handsomer  camp.  The  men  of  the  Regiment  appreciated  the 
compliment.  During  the  whole  service,  the  Ninety-Second 
always  stood  among  the  first  for  cleanliness  of  camps,  care  of 
equipments,  and  soldierly  discipline.  Sometimes  the  men  com- 
plained of  the  drills,  dress-parades,  and  strict  discipline,  but  they 
were  always  proud  of  the  compliments  earned  from  command- 
ing officers  and  Inspector  Generals. 

April    twenty-third,    1864,   was  a  sorrowful    morning   in    the 


136  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

Ninety-Second;  the  picket  post,  eight  miles  from  camp,  at  Nicko- 
jack  Trace,  was  surrounded,  and  attacked  in  overwhelming  force, 
just  at  daylight.  There  were  sixty-two  men  at  that  post,  under 
command  of  Lieutenant  Horace  C.  Scoville,  of  Company  K, 
divided  into  squads,  picketing  several  roads.  A  regiment  of  dis- 
mounted Rebels  crossed  Taylor's  Ridge  during  the  night,  and 
placed  themselves  upon  the  road  in  rear  of  the  pickets,  and,  at  day- 
light, a  regiment  of  mounted  Rebels  charged  simultaneously  every 
post,  driving  the  men  back  onto  the  reserve,  and  the  reserve  back 
onto  the  regiment  of  dismounted  Rebels,  who  had  barricaded  the 
road.  Thirty-three,  out  of  the  sixty-two,  were  killed,  wounded,  or 
captured.  Lieutenant  Scoville,  a  gallant  and  faithful  officer,  was 
among  the  captured.  But  the  horrible  part  of  the  transaction  was 
the  brutal  treatment  our  men  received,  after  their  capture,  at  the 
hands  of  the  cowardly  fiends !  Our  wounded  men  were  picked  up 
by  us,  and  lived  long  enough  to  tell  the  story  of  their  cowardlv 
murder  by  Lieutenant  Pointer,  of  Wheeler's  staff,  and  his  cut- 
throat crew.  It  was  demonstrated  to  a  mathematical  certainty 
that  many  of  our  men  were  cruelly,  brutally,  inhumanly,  unsol- 
dierly  and  cowardly  murdered,  after  they  were  disarmed  and 
wholly  powerless  to  defend  themselves.  Lieutenant  Pointer  him- 
self shot  William  Catnach,  of  Company  B,  after  he  was  disarmed 
and  a  prisoner;  and,  Catnach  not  falling  at  the  first  fire., and  while 
Catnach  was  pleading  for  his  life,  the  cowardly  villain  shot  him 
again,  the  last  shot  passing  through  his  lungs,  and  being  a  mortal 
wound.  Catnach  was  brought  back  to  the  hospital,  and  told  his 
story  under  oath,  and  lived  until  the  seventh  of  May,  when  he 
died  of  his  two  wounds.  William  A.  Hills,  of  Company  K,  famil- 
iarly known  in  the  Regiment  as  Willie  Hills,  met  the  same  fate. 
A  soldier  writes  in  his  diary  under  this  date:  "When  overpow- 
ered, Willie  delivered  up  his  gun,  as  ordered.  A  Rebel  then 
stepped  up  to  him,  after  he  was  disarmed,  cursed  him,  and  then 
placed  his  gun  to  Willie's  breast  and  fired.  Willie  fell  dead.  This 
statement  is  made  by  a  woman  living  near,  and  who  saw  it."  Ten 
dead  bodies  of  our  men  were  gathered  up,  and  the  wounded  ten- 
derly borne  back  to  camp.  Little  squads  of  officers  and  men 
throughout  the  Regiment  discussed  the  butchery  of  the  morning, 
and  it  was  that  day  very  generally  believed  in  the  Regiment  that 
the  Ninety-Second  would  never  take  another  prisoner.  There 
was  no  dismay,  but  a  very  general  and  firm  resolve  that  the  butch- 
ery should  be  avenged!  On  the  twenty-fourth,  three  of  the 
wounded  men  died.  In  the  afternoon,  the  Regiment  held  a  solemn 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  137 

funeral,  and  placed  in  one  grave  seven  of  the  ten  men  killed  at 
Nickojack;  three  were  sent  home  for  burial.  Lieutenant  Colonel 
B.  F.  Sheets  and  Major  John  H.  Bohn,  their  resignations  having 
been  accepted,  bade  good-bye  to  the  Regiment,  and  started  for 
"  God's  country."  They  were  excellent  officers,  and  the  Regi- 
ment parted  with  them  with  much  regret.  On  the  twenty-ninth 
of  April,  the  Regiment  moved  at  two  A.  M.,  with  the  Division, 
through  Ringgold  Gap,  to  the  south  side  of  Taylor's  Ridge,  on  a 
reconnoissance.  The  cavalry,  leading,,  came  to  a  stand,  at  the 
first  Rebel  picket  post;  and  the  Ninety-Second,  with  their  Spen- 
cers, was  called  upon  to  clear  the  road  of  the  enemy,  and  did  so. 
The  Rebel  papers  reported  twenty  of  the  enemy  killed.  The 
Ninety-Second  lost  three;  one  killed,  and  two  mortally  wounded. 
On  the  thirtieth,  the  Regiment  was  mustered  for  pay,  and  re- 
ceived a  special  order  from  General  Kilpatrick,  complimenting 
the  Regiment  for  its  gallant  conduct  on  the  day  before. 

On  the  second  of  May,  the  Regiment  again  marched  through 
Ringgo'.d  Gap,  on  a  reconnoissance,  to  Tunnel  Hill,  with  the 
Division,  the  Ninety-Second  leading,  General  Baird's  division  of 
infantry  moving  out  through  the  Gap,  in  support  of  the  cavalry. 
Kilpatrick  wanted  to  dash  onto  the  first  picket  post,  and  follow 
them  right  into  their  camps  on  a  run,  a  nice  thing  to  have  done; 
but  it  was  utterly  impossible  where  the  roads  passed  through 
mountain  gorges,  and  were  barricaded  every  twenty  rods.  Just 
before  daylight,  the  first  shot  was  fired  by  the  enemy  at  the 
Ninety-Second  advance;  and,  with  a  yell,  the  men  put  spurs  to 
their  horses,  and  dashed  forward.  The  enemy  fled;  but  the 
Ninety-Second  was  soon  halted  by  an  impassable  barricade  that 
required  some  time  to  remove.  The  Ninety-Second  kept  on,  and 
drove  the  enemy  from  three  separate  barricades,  charging  each  one 
in  front.  The  enemy  made  the  next  .stand  at  a  log  house,  with  a 
long  stretch  of  open  field  and  road  in  front.  The  Colonel  halted 
the  advance,  and  sent  a  squad,  dismounted,  through  the  woods,  to 
(lank  the  house  and  come  up  in  the  rear  of  it.  It  required  a  little 
time;  and  Kilpatrick,  impatient,  and  as  reckless  of  the  lives  of 
his  men  as  he  was  of  his  own,  came  up  to  the  advance,  and  found 
the  Colonel  seated  on  the  ground,  quietly  smoking  his  meer- 
schaum pipe.  He  demanded  the  reason  why  the  advance  was 
halted,  and  the  reason  was  explained  to  him.  He  waited  a  minute 
or  two,  and  then  said:  "Well,  we  can't  wait,  fooling  around 
here ;  forward  the  advance."  The  Colonel  replied:  "All  right: 
forward  it  is,  then."  But  the  Spencer  Rifles  of  the  flanking  party 
17 


138  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

opened  at  that  instant;  and,  with  the  advance,  the  General  dashed 
up  to  the  log  house,  without  receiving  a  shot  from  the  enemy, 
whom  the  flanking  party  had  routed ;  and  five  of  the  enemy  were 
left  dead  to  tell  the  effectiveness  of  our  Spencers.  Then  the 
cavalry  took  the  advance,  and,  a  mile  farther  on,  found  the  enemy 
occupying  a  wooded  hill,  with  an  open  field  in  their  front;  and,  of 
course,  the  Ninety-Second  was  sent  for;  and  the  order  was  to  dis- 
mount, and  come  forward  on  the  double-quick.  The  Regiment 
was  dismounted,  and  went  -forward.  The  Colonel  was  directed, 
by  General  Kilpatrick,  to  take  the  hill ;  he  rode  forward,  and 
reconnoitered  the  position,  and  .saw  that,  by  moving  through  the 
woods  a  short  distance,  he  could  flank  it,  and  avoid  the  approach 
over  the  open  field  under  the  enemy's  fire,  and  therefore  turned 
the  head  of  the  Regiment  into  the  woods.  The  enemy  saw  the 
Regiment  filing  into  the  woods,  and  sent  a  straggling  fire  of 
musketry,  at  random,  where  the  Regiment  was  marching;  and 
Captain  Preston,  of  Company  D,  as  brave  an  officer  as  there  was 
in  -the  Regiment,  but  not  the  coolest,  ordered  the  Regiment  to 
charge,  and  away  it  went  over  the  open  field.  The  Colonel 
knew  that  the  men  could  not  double-quick  over  that  field,  and 
then  charge  up  the  steep,  wooded  hill  occupied  by  the  enemy ; 
and,  with  Adjutant  Lawver,  Captain  Hawk,  and  perhaps  other 
mounted  officers,  rode  out  in  front  of  the  Regiment,  and  ordered 
the  men  to  go  at  a  walk,  and  dress  their  line  on  the  colors,  so  that 
they  would  have  breath  and  strength  to  make  the  final  charge  up 
the  hill;  but,  before  the  Regiment  was  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  the 
enemy  retreated.  The  mounted  officers  dashed  to  the  top,  and 
put  in  a  few  pistol  shots  at  the  retreating  foe.  We  had  now  nearly 
reached  the  camps  of  the  enemy;  their  long  wagon  train  was 
winding  over  Tunnel  Hill;  their  cavalry  drawn  up  in  line  of 
battle,  five  or  eight  thousand  of  them  in  plain  sight.  A  battery 
of  artillery  tossed  shell  at  them;  and,  to  make  the  enemy  think 
that  Sherman's  whole  army  was  after  them,  the  Ninety-Second 
marched  round  and  round  in  a  circle,  passing,  everv  few  minutes, 
over  the  bold  brow  of  the  hill,  and  back  through  the  woods  out 
of  sight  of  the  enemy,  so  that  it  must  have  appeared  to  the  enemy 
like  regiment  after  regiment  of  infantry,  filing  into  the  woods, 
as'  the  stream  of  men  over  the  brow  of  the  hill  was  continuous, 
and  the  regimental  colors  repeatedly  passing,  always  in  the  same 
direction.  Having  demonstrated  that  the  enemy  had  no  infantrv 
north  of  Tunnel  Hill,  the  object  of  the  reconnoissance  wasaccoiriT 
plishd,  and  the  command  returned  to  camp,  the  Ninety-Second 


NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  139 

holding  the  rear.  When  within  a  mile  or  two  of  Ringgold  Gap, 
the  enemy  grew  very  bold,  and  attacked  the  rear  with  considera- 
ble forcet  and  with  great  energy-  The  entire  Regiment  faced 
about  in  line  of  battle,  mounted,  in  an  orchard,  with  an  open  field 
in  front.  The  enemy  had  a  line  of  battle,  on  a  hill  beyond  the 
field,  and  a  squad  of  the  enemy  occupied  a  wooded  hill,  on  our 
,  left  flank,  and  annoyed  us  with  their  sharp  shooting.  General 
Kilpatrick  led  a  charge  of  cavalry  against  the  enemy  in  front,  but 
the  cavalry  he  was  leading  didn't  charge  as  fast  as  the  General, 
and,  Kilpatrick  having  his  horse  shot,  the  cavalry  retreated. 
General  Kilpatrick  inquired  if  the  Ninety-Second  could  charge 
on  horseback  and  take  that  hill,  and  was  told  that  it  could  try,  and 
it  did  try ;  and  it  took  the  hill,  and  held  it.  A  considerable  force 
of  the  enemy  had  passed  into  a  corn  field,  through  a  gap  in  the 
line  of  hills;  it  looked  like  a  column  of  two  or  three  hundred, 
and  two  companies  of  the  Ninety-Second  were  sent  to  cut  them 
off  from  returning.  After  a  while,  there  was  considerable  music 
made  by  the  Spencers  in  that  corn-field,  but  the  Ninety-Second 
took  no  prisoners  that  day.  Few  of  the  enemy  that  went  into 
that  corn-field  ever  came  out  of  it  again.  "  Boys,  remember 
Nickojack,"  was  the  battle-cry,  but  it  never  was  afterward.  The 
massacre  at  Nickojack  was  terribly  avenged !  The  Regiment 
was  satisfied,  and  never  afterward  was  Nickojack  revengefully 
mentioned  in  the  Ninety-Second,  but  always  sadly  and  sorrow- 
fully. The  hill  was  held  until  General  Kilpatrick  ordered  the 
Regiment  to  withdraw,  and  it  passed  on  through  Ringgold  Gap, 
and  into  camp,  without  another  shot  being  fired  by  the  enemy. 
The  camps  about  Ringgold  were  rapidly  filling  up;  and,  from  the 
top  of  Taylor's  Ridge,  it  looked  at  night,  when  the  camp-fires 
were  lighted,  like  a  great  city,  the  bright  lights  gleaming  for 
miles  and  miles.  On  the  fifth,  heavy  columns  of  troops  moved 
through  Ringgold  Gap.  On  this  day,  a  meeting  of  the  officers 
of  the  Regiment  was  held,  which  is  explained  in  the  following: 

"  RINGGOLD,  GA.,  May  5th,  1864. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  officers  of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois 
Volunteer  Infantry,  held  on  the  fourth  instant,  Captain  J.  M. 
Schermerhorn,  of  Company  G,  being  called  to  the  Chair,  and 
Adjutant  I.  C.  Lawver  elected  Secretary,  on  motion  of  Captain 
Van  Buskirk,  a  committee,  consisting  of  Captains  E.  T.  E.  Becker, 
of  Company  I,  H.  J.  Smith,  of  Company  B,  and  Lieutenant  G. 
R.  Skinner,  of  Company  D,  was  appointed  to  draft  resolutions 


I4o  N1NBTT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

expressive  of  the  universal  regret  experienced  at  parting  with 
our  late  Lieutenant  Colonel  and  Major,  and  of  the  high  esteem 
in  which  their  memory  is  cherished  by  the  Regiment.  The  fol- 
lowing are  the  resolutions  as  reported  and  unanimously  adopted : 

"  WHEREAS,  Circumstances  over  which  they  had  no  control 
have  made  it  necessary  for  our  much  esteemed  Lieutenant  Colo- 
nel, B.  F.  Sheets,  and  Major,  John  H.  Bohn,  to  sever  their  con- 
nection with  our  Regiment;  and 

"  WHEREAS,  It  seems  to  us  not  improper  to  express  our 
regret  in  this  public  manner;  therefore 

"  Resolved,  That  in  taking  final  leave  of  us,  thev  carry  with 
them  the  best  wishes  of  all,  both  officers  and  men,  who  have,  for 
over  twenty  months,  served  under  their  gallant  leadership. 

"  Resolved,  That  bv  uniform  kindness,  wholesome  discipline, 
and  soldierly  bearing,  they  have  endeared  themselves  to  everv  - 
officer  and  man  in   their  command,  and  bound  us  together  with 
ties  of  friendship  which  cannot  be  broken  while  memory   shall 
last. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  be  instructed  to  request  the 
papers  of  Carroll,  Ogle,  and  Stephenson  Counties,  Illinois,  to 
publish  the  above  resolutions. 

"  J.  M.  SCHERMERHORN,  President. 

"  I.  C.  LAWYER,  Secretary." 

On  the  sixth  of  May,  orders  came  to  be  ready  to  march  in  a 
movement  of  the  whole  army,  on  the  morning  of  the  seventh  of 
May,  1864.  The  movement  on  the  morrow  was  to  be  a  move- 
ment of  all  of  Sherman's  troops  in  that  immediate  vicinity;  that 
is,  a  general  advance,  and  in  exact  harmony  with  the  whole 
forces  of  the  United  States;  Banks  moving,  at  the  same  time,  in 
the  Department  of  the  Gulf,  and  Grant  on  Richmond.  Sher- 
man had  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  Major  General  Thomas : 
Infantry,  54,  568;  artillery,  2,377;  cavalry,  including  the  Ninety- 
Second,  of  course,  3,828 — total,  60,773;  guns,  130.  Army  of  the 
Tennessee,  Major  General  McPherson:  Infantry,  22,437;  artillery, 
1,404;  cavalry,  624 — total,  24,465 ;  guns,  96.  Army  of  the  Ohio, 
Major  General  J.  M.  Schofield,  of  Freeport,  Illinois:  Infantry, 
11,183;  cavalry,  1,697;  artillery,  679;  guns,  28 — total,  13,559- 
Grand  total:  Infantry,  88,188;  cavalry,  6,149;  artillery,  4,460: 
guns,  254;  men  of  ail  arms,  98,779.  Marched,  at  three  A.  M.,  with 
the  Division,  and  crossed  Taylor's  Ridge,  at  Nickojack.  Skir- 
mished with  the  enemv  all  dav,  after  crossing  Taylor's  Ridge. 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  141 

( 

Companies  K  and  C  drove  the  enemy,  after  a  brisk  little  fight, 
across  a  creek,  on  the  left  of  Hooker's  corps.  Camped  at 
Gordon's  Gap. 

Sunday,  May  eighth,  marched  to  Vilanow,  and  drove  in  a 
Rebel  picket.  McPherson's  corps  passed  Vilanow  for  Snake 
Creek  Gap  and  Reseca,  General  Dodge's  division  leading;  and 
if  that  division,  on  striking  Reseca,  had  have  pushed  into  the 
town  instead  of  Dodging  back  to  the  mouth  of  Snake  Creek  Gap 
and  fortifying,  Jo  Johnston's  Rebel  army  would  have  been  bagged. 
Mav  tenth,  marched  at  noon  to  Snake  Creek  Gap,  five  miles,  and 
camped  behind  the  infantry.  There  were  heavy  earthworks 
thrown  up  by  Dodge's  troops  across  the  Gap,  facing  toward  Res- 
eca. It  rained  terribly  during  the  night.  On  the  eleventh,  the 
Ninety-Second  lay  in  camp,  sending  detachments  to  scout  to  Lay's 
Ferry  and  Calhoun  Ferry  over  the  Oostanaula.  On  the  twelfth, 
a.  portion  of  the  Division,  under  command  of  General  Kilpatrick, 
the  Ninety-Second  leading,  made  a  reconnoissance  toward  Dai- 
ton,  and,  with  some  fighting,  drove  the  enemy  about  three  miles, 
and  held  them  until  McPherson's  corps  had  advanced  two  miles 
and  thrown  up  breastworks.  On  the  thirteenth,  the  Division 
marched  at  daylight,  with  orders  to  take  and  hold^the  cross-roads 
west  of  Reseca,  to  enable  the  infantry  to  deploy  on  the  roads. 
The  Tenth  Ohio  Cavalry  charged  the  picket  of  the  enemy  at  the 
cross-roads,  and  drove  them  back.  In  this  charge  the  brave  and 
dashing  commander  of  the  Division,  General  Judson  Kilpatrick, 
was.  wounded,  and  the  command  of  the  Division  fell  to  Colonel 
Eli  H.  Murray,  a  brave  soldier,  and  the  command  of  the  Brigade 
devolved  upon  the  Colonel  of  the  Ninetv-Second.  The  Ninety- 
Second  was  dismounted  and  formed  in  line,  and  pushed  consider- 
ably beyond  the  cross-roads,  taking  position  behind  a  fence,  with 
a  field  in  their  front ;  the  enemy,  dismounted,  attempted  to  charge 
over  the  field  and  drive  the  Regiment  back,  but  they  were  scarcely 
out  of  the  woods  and  in  the  open  field,  when  the  fire  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  Spencers  drove  them  back.  Rebel  soldiers,  tied  in  trees, 
were  sharpshooting,  and  one,  immediately  in  front  of  the  Ninety- 
Second,  was  discovered  and  killed  by  a  Spencer  ball,  and  his  gun 
dropped  out  of  his  hand,  and  his  body  fell  to  the  ground.  Many 
of  the  enemy,  at  Reseca,  were  so  securely  fastened  in  the  trees 
that  their  dead  bodies  remained  there  for  days  after  the  bat- 
tle was  over,  and  until  cut  down  and  buried  by  our  troops.  The 
Regiment  lay  in  the  position  described,  holding  the  road  to  Res- 
eca, a  mile  and  a  half  distant,  until  the  infantry  deployed;  and  the 


142  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

long  line  of  infantry  pushed  forward  and  took  the  hill  commanded 
by  the  guns  at  Reseca,  immediately  in  front  of  the  Ninety-Second. 
The  Regiment  was  then  withdrawn,  and  mounted  and  marched 
again  to  Lay's  Ferry  and  Calhoun  Ferry,  on  the  Oostanaula,  and 
exchanged  shots  with  the  enemy  guarding  those  points,  and  re- 
turned to  the  cross-roads  and  bivouaced.  On  the  fourteenth, 
marched  to  Lay's  Ferry,  sending  Companies  H  and  A  to  Cal- 
houn Ferry.  A  division  of  infantry,  under  the  command  of  Brig- 
adier General  Sweeney,  of  the  Regular  Army,  made  a  crossing 
at  Lay's  Ferry,  and,  being  heavily  attacked,  repulsed  the  attack  of 
the  enemv,  but  most  unaccountably  failed  to  lay  the  pontoons. 
The  failure  to  lay  the  pontoons  at  Lay's  Ferry,  on  this  day,  must 
have  been  a  great  disappointment  to  General  Sherman;  for,  had 
they  been  laid,  and  a  corps  crossed  and  placed  at  Calhoun,  on  the 
road  south  of  Reseca,  it  would  have  been  very  difficult  for  Johns- 
ton to  have  retreated  from  Reseca.  We  wonder  that  the  General 
ot  a  great  army  can  provide  against  little  failures  of  this  kind  (nec- 
essary steps  in  the  plan  of  the  general  campaign),  which,  failing, 
entail  most  troublesome  results.  Of  course,  it  will  be  understood 
by  the  reader  that  the  Ninety-Second  Committee  on  Publication 
do  not  profess  to  know  that  General  Sherman  intended  to  place  a 
corps  at  Calhoun;  we  only  know  that  if  he  had  have  d.one  so, 
Johnston,  if  he  escaped  at  all,  must  have  escaped  without  a  cannon, 
animal  or  wheel ;  in  fact,  his  army  would  have  been  broken  up 
and  scattered  beyond  recall,  if  not  in  a  body  captured.  In  the 
night,  of  the  fifteenth  of  May,  the  pickets  at  Calhoun  Ferry  being 
attacked,  the  Brigade  moved  out  at  eleven  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  the 
Regiment,  of  course,  moved  with  the  Brigade,  and,  at  the  Ferry, 
could  distinctly  hear  the  low,  rumbling  sound  of  Johnston's  artil- 
lery and  trains  moving  southward — it  being  made  plain  thereby 
that  Reseca  was  being  evacuated  by  the  enemy.  Information  was 
sent  to  General  Sherman,  and  a  battery  of  artillery  planted  that 
opened  fire  at  random  toward  the  Calhoun  road,  leading  south 
from  Reseca.  The  firing  of  the  batterv  was  kept  up  for  a  long 
time,  but  no  response  from  the  enemy  was  elicited.  The  artillery 
and  musketrv  firing  in  front  of  Reseca  was  continuous  and  ter- 
rific. The  morning  of  the  sixteenth  of  May  found  Reseca  de- 
serted by  Johnston,  and  his  army  intact  in  full  retreat  south  of  the 
Oostanaula.  The  Ninety-Second  escorted  General  Force  to  the 
head-quarters  of  Colonel  Wilder,  near  Rome,  Georgia,  and  re- 
turned to  the  Brigade;  crossed  the  Oostanaula  on  the  poontons  at 
Lay's  Ferrv  with  the  Brigade.  While  Iving  in  the  woods  south  of 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  143 

the  Ferry  the  infantry  advance  was  severely  attacked  by  the  enemy, 
but  they  were  repulsed.  Marched  several  miles,  and  camped  for 
the  night,  the  Regiment  having  marched  forty  miles  during  the 
day.  Sherman's  whole  army  was  in  motion  in  pursuit  of  John- 
ston. On  the  seventeenth,  the  Regiment  did  not  march  until  two 
o'clock  P.  M.,  and  marched  only  five  miles.  On  the  eighteenth, 
moved  early,  seven  miles  to  railroad  south  of  Calhoun,  and  waited 
for  the  Armies  of  the  Cumberland  and  Ohio  to  pass  through 
Adairsville;  passed  Adairsville  a  few  miles,  and  bivouaced  after 
dark.  On  the  nineteenth,  marched  early,  on  a  roundabout  road, 
Hanking  the  infantry  columns  on  the  right;  passed  through  Kings-, 
ton  and  camped,  after  dark,  in  rear  of  the  infantry  skirmish  line, 
a  few  miles  south  of  Kingston.  On  the  twenty-first,  the  Regi- 
ment retraced  its  march  to  Reseca,  to  guard  the  railroad  from  at- 
tacks of  the  Rebel  cavalry.  On  the  twenty-second,  the  Regiment 
was  divided,  one  portion  marching  east  and  one  west  of  the  rail- 
road, and  camping  together  at  night  at  Adairsville.  Lay  in  camp 
at  Adairsville,  sending  out  scouting  parties  in  all  directions.  On 
the  twenty-fourth,  reports  came  to  camp  of  a  Rebel  cavalry  col- 
umn at  Cassville.  The  Regiment  marched  at  five  P.  M.,  five 
miles  toward  Cassville,  and  sent  the  advance  into  the  town.  The 
Rebel  cavalry  had  been  there,  and  gone  again,  capturing  a  few 
wagons  and  straggling  soldiers.  The  Regiment  remained  saddled 
all  night;  and,  at  ten  A.  M.,  next  morning,  returned  to  Adairs- 
ville, where  the  Regiment  lay  until  the  sixth  of  June. 

On  the  fourth  of  June,  George  W.  Marshall,  Regimental 
Quartermaster,  was  promoted  to  Captain  and  Assistant  Quarter- 
master of  Volunteers,  and  Philip  Sweeley,  Quartermaster's  Ser- 
geant, was  promoted  to  Lieutenant  and  Regimental  Quartermas- 
ter. Marshall  was  an  efficient  Regimental  Quartermaster,  and 
had  earned  his  promotion.  Sweeley  was  always  faithful  as  a 
Quartermaster's  Sergeant,  and  filled,  with  satisfaction  to  the  Reg- 
iment, the  position  of  Regimental  Quartermaster. 

On  the  sixth  of  June,  leaving  Company  G  at  Adairsville,  the 
Regiment  marched  through  Kingston,  and  camped  three  miles 
south-west  of  the  town,  to  do  scouting  dutv  along  the  Etowa 
River.  On  the  eighth,  Company  I  was  sent,  on  a  two  days' 
scout,  towards  Rome.  The  weather  was  very  warm.  The  Regi- 
ment lay  in  camp,  scouting  and  patrolling  the  Etowa,  until  the 
thirteenth,  living  on  the  fat  of  the  land.  Cherries  were  ripe,  and 
the  woods  full  of  huckleberries.  On  the  eleventh,  two  of  Arm- 
strong's cavalry  were  captured.  On  the  thirteenth,  the  Regiment 


144  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

marched  early  to  Reseca,  sending  scouting  parties  in  all  di- 
rections. On  the  fourteenth,  sent  scouting  parties  to  Vilanow 
and  Rome,  and  the  Regiment  marched  on  a  roundabout  road  to 
Calhoun  and  on  to  Adairsville.  On  the  fifteenth,  the  Regiment 
returned  to  its  old  camp  near  Kingston.  On  the  sixteenth,  Major 
Charles  W.  Newcomer  paid  the  Regiment  four  months'  pay.  On 
the  twentieth,  Captain  Albert  Woodcock,  of  Company  K,  was 
promoted  to  Major,  vice  John  H.  Bohn,  resigned,  and  Lieutenant 
Horace  C.  Scoville,  who  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Rebels  at 
Nickojack,  and  was  still  a  prisoner,  was  promoted  to  the  Cap- 
taincy of  Company  K.  On  the  twenty-eighth,  Lieutenant  I.  C. 
Lawver,  Regimental  Adjutant,  left  the  Regiment,  being  detailed 
as  A.  A.  D.  C.  on  the  staff  of  Brigadier  General  A.  Baird.  The 
entire  Regiment  parted  with  Lieutenant  Lawver  with  great  re- 
gret; he  was  an  educated  soldier  and  gentleman,  and  had  won  the 
respect  and  affection  of  the  entire  command.  On  the  third  of 
July,  the  Regiment  marched  to  Adairsville,  and  camped  on  the 
old  camp  ground.  On  the  fourth  of  July,  marched  early,  to  Res- 
eca, and  lay  there  in  camp  until  the  twenty-fifth,  sending  out 
heavy  scouting  parties,  and  patrolling  the  railroad  to  guard  U  from 
being  torn  up  by  small  bodies  of  Rebel  cavalry.  On  the  twenty-first,' 
General  Kilpatrick,  having  recovered  from  his  wound,  returned 
to  the  army,  and  took  command  of  his  old  Division,  to  the  great 
joy  of  officers  and  men,  who  were  weary  of  guarding  railroads, 
and  they  knew  that  when  Kilpatrick  returned  it  meant  active  work. 
On  the  twenty-fifth,  the  Regiment  marched  to  Calhoun.  On  the 
twenty-sixth,  the  Regiment  adopted  commendatory  resolutions  in 
compliment  to  Doctor  Winston,  who  had  resigned.  On  the 
twenty-ninth,  Captain  J.  M.  Schermerhorn,  of  Company  G,  was 
presented  with  a  beautiful  sword  by  his  admiring  friends  in  the 
Regiment.  The  Smith  D.  Atkins  Lodge  of  Free  and  Accepled 
Masons  was  organized  in  the  Regiment,  under  a  Dispensation 
from  the  Grand  Lodge  of  Illinois.  On  August  second,  the  Regi- 
ment 'marched  at  daylight,  through  Adairsville  and  Kingston,  to 
Cartersville.  On  the  third,  the  Ninety-Second  marched  at  nine- 
o'clock  A.  M.,  through  Altoona  Pass,  and  bivouaced  a  few  miles 
southeast  of  Altoona.  On  the  fourth  of  August,  the  Regiment 
was  thrown  in  advance  of  the  Division  about  three  and  a  half 
miles,  the  Division  being  on  the  right  of  Sherman's  army  in  front 
of  Atlanta,  where,  near  the  banks  of  the  Chattahoochee,  it  went 
into  camp,  and  did  outpost  duty.  The  Rebels  were  constantly 
prowling  about  the  picket  posts  of  the  encampment.  While  here. 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  145 

Nat.  Davis,  of  Company  K,  Regimental  Postmaster,  was  cap- 
tured, with  the  mail,  while  on  his  way  to  the  Regiment  from  Di- 
vision head-quarters.  On  Sunday,  the  seventh  of  August,  Orderly  . 
David  Boyle,  of  Company  H,  was  sent,  with  a  report  of  the  fight- 
ing strength  of  the  Regiment,  to  General  Kilpatrick.  When  on 
the  road,  a  mile  from  camp,  five  armed  Rebels  stepped  out  from 
the  bushes,  and,  with  guns  pointed  at  his  breast,  ordered  him  to 
surrender.  David  obeyed.  The  Rebels  marched  David  three  or 
four  miles  to  the  edge  of  a  swamp,  and  there  they  lay  concealed 
until  about  midnight,  when  four  of  them  started  to  the  Ninety- 
Second  camp  to  gobble  horses,  leaving  the  fifth  man  in  charge  of 
David.  David,  playing  possum,  went  to  sleep,  snoring  lustily,  but 
kept  open  his  ears  and  one  eye.  After  a  while,  the  Rebel  guard 
dropped  away  into  slumber,  and  snored  in  concert  with  his  pris- 
oner. Dave  then  silently  rose  to  his  feet,  and,  with  the  spring  of 
a  panther,  leaped  upon  the  guard,  seized  the  guard's  gun,  and  with 

it  dashed  out  his  brains.     Dave  then  secured  his  trustv  Spencer. 

j 
untied  and  mounted  his  own  horse,  and  started  for  camp.     When 

about  half  way  to  camp,  whom  should  he  meet  but  those  five 
identical  Rebels,  returning  to  where  they  had  left  Dave  in  charge 
of  one  of  their  number,  as  a  guard,  and  each  Rebel  having  a 
milk-white  horse,  captured  from  the  musical  command  of  Collen 
Bauden !  B}7  the  light  of  the  moon,  Dave  recognized  the  band 
horses  of  the  Ninety-Second,  and  the  Rebels  recognized  Dave. 
A  race  and  a  fight  ensued.  David  abandoned  his  horse,  and  took 
to  the  swamp,  and  succeeded  in  eluding  his  pursuers.  The  next, 
day,  David  came  into  camp,  minus  hat,  coat,  shoes,  and  shirt,  the 
very  picture  of  hard  times. 

The  Ninety-Second  Band  was  made  up  of  the  very  best 
musical  talent  in  the  Regiment.  Collen  Bauden,  the  leader,  was 
modest,  almost  to  bashfulness;  and  his  soft  hazel  eye  told  of  a 
heart  as  kind  as  a  woman's:  there  was  music  in  his  walk,  look, 
and  gesture.  No  discordant  note,  but  silver  melody  alone, 
breathed  from  his  horn.  All  the  Band  boys  were  fine  fellows, 
morally  and  physically,  and,  under  Collen's  instruction,  thev 
became  experts,  and,  as  a  Band,  second  to  none  in  Sherman's 
Army.  Their  horns  were  German  silver,  and  their  horses  milk- 
white  steeds.  Like  all  musical  people,  the  Band  regarded  them- 
selves a  degree  above  the  common  crowd.  They  did  not  belong 
to  the  plebians  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Regiment;  hence, 
when  the  Regiment  went  into  camp,  the  Band  was  accustomed 
to  pitch  their  tents  a  little  way  out;  and  the  Band,  in  its  whims, 
18 


146  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

was  humored,  as  all  musical  people  are.  On  the  night  of  the 
day  that  Orderly  David  Boyle  was  captured,  four  of  David's 
capturers  crept  into  Collen  Bauden's  command,  and  led  away  four 
of  his  milk-white  steeds!  The  next  morning,  the  Band  boys, 
chagrined  that  the  Rebels  had  stepped  over  them  while  asleep, 
and  led  away  their  best  horses,  repaired  to  Major  Woodcock,  the 
Regimental  Commander,  and,  with  woe-begone  faces,  related 
their  grievances.  They  asked  for  more  horses  at  once.  The 
reply  was,  "A  fighting  man  cannot  be  dismounted  for  the  pur- 
pose of  mounting  a  non-combatant;  the  Band  must  go  on  foot." 
Before  nightfall  of  that  day,  it  was  amusing  to  see  the  Band  boys, 
like  wayward  but  -repentant  children,  come  creeping  under  the 
wings  of  the  Regiment  for  protection.  A  heavy  camp  guard  was 
thrown  around  the  camp ;  and,  about  two  o'clock  the  next  morn- 
ing, the  Rebels  were  seen  approaching  the  Regiment,  probably 
in  quest  of  more  white  Band  horses;  but  the  hawks  missed 
their  game:  the  chickens  were  nestled  snugly  in  the  breast- 
feathers,  close  to  the  Regimental  heart.  The  guards  fired  upon 
the  Rebels.  In  about  five  minutes  after  the  volley,  the  Regiment 
was  in  line,  ready  for  fight.  From  indications  seen  'the  next 
morning,  two  or  three  of  the  Johnnies  must  have  been  wounded. 
A  day  or  two  afterward,  the  dismounted  Band  bovs  were  on 
mules.  Where  they  got  them  was  a  query.  It  was  generally 
understood  that  no  Ninety-Second  man  went  on  foot  longer  than 
two  days;  that  is,  not  if  he  understood  himself,  and  he  generally 
did.  A  charger,  in  the  form  of  a  horse,  mule,  or  donkey,  was 
pretty  sure  to  fill  the  vacancy  within  that  time. 

On  Monday,  the  fifteenth  of  August,  1864,  at  one  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  reveille  was  sounded  in  the  camp  of  the  Ninety- 
Second,  in  compliance  with  orders  from  Division  head-quarters. 
After  grooming  and  feeding  the  horses,  and  making  a  breakfast 
of  fried  "  hard-tack  and  sow-belly,"  and  coffee,  the  Regiment 
moved  into  line,  and  awaited  the  coming  of  the  rest  of  the  Di- 
vision. At  four  o'clock  A.  M.,  they  came  up.  The  Division,  the 
Ninety-Second  leading,  marched  to  a  point  within  half  a  mile  ot 
the  Chattahoochee,  opposite  Sandtown.  The  town  was  held  by 
a  small  force  of  the  enemy,  on  picket  duty.  The  immediate 
object  of  the  movement  of  the  Cavalry  Division  was  to  lay  a  pon- 
toon across  the  Chattahoochee,  opposite  Sandtown.  The  Ninety- 
Second  was  ordered  to  deploy  on  foot,  and  to  charge  to  the 
water's  edge,  under  the  cover  of  a  battery,  on  an  eminence  in 
rear- of  the  Regiment,  which  was  to  shell  the  town  during  the 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  147 

forward  movement  of  the  Ninety-Second ;  but,  while  charging  to 
the  river,  the  shell  from  the  battery  fell  short,  bursting,  and  tear- 
ing up  the  earth  in  rear  and  front  of  the  Regiment,  scattering  the 
dirt  over  the  men.  The  idea  of  being  killed  by  friends  was  terri- 
ble; it  reminded  the  boys  of  the  time  when  the  Ninety-Second 
drove  the  Rebels  over  and  off  from  Lookout  Mountain,  and  our 
own  Brigade  battery  recklessly  tossed  its  shell  into  the  advance; 
only  there  the  boys  knew  it  was  a  want  of  information,  for  Wil- 
der's  battery  was  always  ably  managed;  and  now  it  was  a  want 
of  sense  in  the  gunners  in  not  elevating  their  pieces:  there  was 
no  glory  in  such  a  death.  The  men  of  the  Ninety-Second  stood 
even  such  a  fire,  withovit  a  break  or  curve  in  their  battle-line.  A 
little  cursing  from  Kilpatrick  caused  the  artillerymen  to  elevate 
their  pieces,  and  fire  with  more  care.  Luckily,  none  were  in- 
jured. The  Regiment  moved  to  the  water's  edge,  throwing 
several  volleys  across ;  the  shell  from  the  battery  dropping  nicely 
into  the  town.  The  Rebels,  panic-stricken,  fled  like  frightened 
deer.  A  pontoon  boat  conveyed  some  of  the  Regiment  over  the 
river;  all  went  to  work  with  a  will,  and,  by  noon,  the  bridge  of 
boats  was  completed,  and  the  whole  command  crossed.  The  day 
had  been  beautiful,  the  sun  shining  brightly.  A  thunder-storm 
now  rolled  up,  and  poured  its  waters  copiously  on  the  command, 
which  moved  on  in  the  direction  of  the  Montgomery  and  West 
Point  Railroad.  When  near  Fairburn,  the  Rebels  made  a  stand; 
but  a  charge,  in  which  the  Ninety-3econd  participated,  swept 
them  away.  The  Yankees  then  burned  the  depot  and  Rebel 
stores,  cut  the  telegraph,  and  tore  up  some  track,  and  fell  back 
some  three  or  four  miles.  It  was  night.  The  Regiment,  wet 
from  the  drenching  rain,  without  tents  or  blankets,  lay  down  on 
their  arms,  in  line  of  battle,  and  slept  until  the  break  of  day,  on 
the  morning  of  the  sixteenth.  The  Division  moved  back  to 
within  three  or  four  miles  of  the  river,  and  struck  a  road  leading 
toward  Atlanta.  The  Ninety-Second  brought  up  the  rear.  As 
the  command  crossed  Camp  Creek,  the  horses  were  watered,  thus 
consuming  an  hour  in  crossing.  Corporal  C.  O.  Trask,  with  a 
detail  of  men,  was  stationed  in  the  road,  on  an  eminence  south  of 
the  creek.  A  force  of  Rebel  cavalry,  ten  times  the  number  of 
the  Corporal's  squad,  noticing  the  little  band  acting  as  rear  guard, 
dashed  their  horses  into  a  charge.  For  a  moment,  the  boys  were 
bewildered,  and  about  to  retreat;  the  Corporal  sprang  forward, 
shouting  to  his  men,  "  We  must  stand;  we  belong  to  the  Ninety- 
Second;  we  can  whip  them."  The  boys  did  stand.  Bravely  they 


148  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

volleyed  the  charging  column,  broke  it  into  confusion,  and  the 
Rebels  went  back  faster  than  they  came.  After  crossing  the 
creek,  the  Division  moved,  on  a  road,  eastward,  until  within  four 
and  a  half  miles  of  the  railroad,  between  East  Point, and  Atlanta, 
where,  running  against  the  Rebel  army  behind  their  earthworks, 
the  Division  backed  out,  and  returned  to  Sandtown,  crossed  the 
river,  and  went  into  their  old  camps,  both  men  and  horses  suffer- 
ing from  fatigue.  On  Wednesday,  the  seventeenth,  the  men  and 
horses  were  allowed  to  rest. 

About  two  weeks  previously,  General  Sherman  ordered 
General  Stoneman,  with  five  thousand  cavalry,  and  McCook, 
with  four  thousand  cavalry,  to  march — the  one  from  the  left  flank 
of  his  army,  the  other  from  the  right  flank — and  unite  at  Love- 
joy's  Station,  and  there  destroy  the  railroad.  Stoneman  did  not 
reach  the  road,  but  was  captured,  with  about  a  thousand  of  his 
command. »  McCook  reached  Lovejoy,*but  was  heavily  attacked, 
and  obliged  to  retrace  his  steps,  losing  about  five  hundred  of  his 
men  captured,  among  whom  was  Colonel  Harrison,  of  the  Eighth 
Indiana  Cavalry,  well  known  in  the  Ninety-Second.  General 
Sherman  then  told  Kilpatrick  that  he  might  try  his  hand. 
Monday  and  Tuesday  of  this  week,  the  Regiment  had  been 
constantly  in  the  saddle,  with  but  little  sleep  at  night.  Thursdav 
they  were  ordered  to  put  themselves  into  first-rate  fighting 
condition;  to  provide  themselves  with  all  the  Spencer  cartridges 
they  could  possibly  carry,  with  several  days'  rations,  without 
tents,  blankets,  or  other  incumbrances,  to  be  ready  for  the  march. 

On  Thursday,  at  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  the  command 
formed.  It  consisted  of  Kilpatrick's  Division,  and  also  the  bri- 
gades of  Colonels  Long  and  Minty,  and  the  Chicago  Board  of 
Trade  and  Tenth  Wisconsin  batteries,  numbering  in  all  about  five 
thousand  horsemen.  The  Ninety-Second,  under  the  command  of 
Major  Woodcock,  was  given  the  place  of  honor,  the  advance. 
After  crossing  the  Chattahoochee,  and  getting  well  under  march, 
night  spread  her  mantle  of  darkness  upon  the  land.  After  cross- 
ing a  creek,  the  advancing  Ninety-Second  descried  the  camp-fires 
of  the  Rebels  in  and  near  the  road.  "Attention — trot — march!" 
and  "  charge!  "  were  the  commands.  On  the  keen  run,  the  Reg- 
iment went  in ;  the  shouts  of  the  men,  as  they  madly  dashed  for- 
ward in  that  reckless  charge  through  the  darkness,  echoed  and 
re-echoed  among  the  hills.  They  swept  over  the  advance  pick- 
ets and  guards  of  the  enemy,  dashed  through  their  camp,  driving 
the-flying  Rebels  before  them  like  autumn  leaves  before  the  wind. 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  149 

Onward  they  rode,  sweeping  the  enemy  before  them,  until  they 
drove  them  beyond  the  Montgomery  and  West  Point  Railroad. 
The  men  of  the  Ninety-Second  then  halted  on  the  iron  track,  and 
awaited  the  arrival  of  the  command.  Along  the  road  where  the 
Regiment  charged  the  Rebel  dead  were  scattered.  Among  their 
killed  was  a  Lieutenant.  He,  with  some  men,  was  stationed  at 
an  advanced  post.  The  charge  of  the  Regiment  in  the  darkness 
fell  upon  them  like  a  thunderbolt.  The  Rebel  Lieutenant  had 
just  written  a  letter  to  his  wife.  One  of  the  boys  snatched  it  up. 
It  was  crimson  with  the  Lieutenant's  blood.  Among  his  ex- 
pressions were  the  following:  "The  Yankees  are  encamped  not 
far  from  here.  We  are  liable  to  have  a  fight  at  any  moment.  I 
may  never  see  you  again.  I  commend  you,  my  dear  wife,  and 
our  little  ones,  to  heaven's  protection."  Tears  blinded  the  eyes  of 
the  Ninety-Second  boy  as  he  read  to  his  comrades  the  letter.  In 
the  charge  the  Ninety-Second  had  several  men  wounded,  and 
many  horses  killed.  The  Division  fell  upon  the  West  Point  and 
Montgomery  Railroad  track  like  a  devouring  cloud  of  locusts  upon 
a  grain  field.  The  men,  standing  as  thick  as  they  could  stand 
along  one  side  of  the  track,  took  hold  ot  the  rails  and  ends  of  the 
ties,  and,  by  main  force,  lifted  the  track  up  bodily  and  turned  it 
bottom  side  up.  They  built  fires,  and,  heating  the  rails  in  the 
center,  twisted  and  bent  them.  They  toiled  until  the  rosy  light  in 
the  east  told  of  approaching  morn.  The  bugles  then  sounded  "to 
horse."  Kilpatrick  said  to  the  men:  "This  is  not  the  road  that 
we  are  after;  we  want  the  one  that  runs  southward  from  Atlanta." 
The  bold  riders  mounted  and  were  away,  the  Ninety-Second  still 
leading. 

As  the  sun  was  rising  in  golden  glory  above  the  eastern  hills, 
a  roll  of  musketry  in  the  rear  of  the  column  announced  an  attack 
in  that  direction.  The  shells  from  the  Rebel  artiller}'  came  richo- 
cheting  along  and  bursting  near  the  Regiment.  Kilpatrick,  who 
at  that  time  was  sitting  on  the  fence  in  front  of  a  log  house  ques- 
tioning a  woman  about  the  roads,  looked  up,  and  addressed  Major 
Woodcock,  in  command  of  the  Ninety-Second,  saying:  "That 
means  fight.  Move  your  men  rapidly  to  the  rear,  and  assist  in 
the  engagement."  General  Kilpatrick's  order  was  obeyed.  In  a 
few  minutes  the  Rebels  were  driven  in  disorder  and  put  to  flight. 
The  Regiment  was  then  ordered  to  march  by  file  upon  the  left 
flank  of  the  marching  column,  a  space  of  four  or  five  rods  to  be 
maintained  between  each  file.  The  enemy,  save  what  had  been 
routed  in  the  rear,  were  upon  the  left,  between  the  command  and 


150  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

Atlanta.  The  road  wound  along  through  the  woods,  and  it  was 
thought  the  enemy  might  lie  in  ambush.  The  Ninety-Second 
flankers  were  to  draw  the  fire  and  engage  the  attention  of  the  en- 
emy, while  the  command  got  ready  for  action.  Stumbling  over 
logs,  scratched  and  torn  by  briars,  often  entangled  in  the  wild 
vines,  the  Regiment  struggled  along;  but  the  toil  and  fatigue  to 
both  men  and  horses  was  very  great.  They  were  obliged  to  keep 
up  with  the  column  marching  rapidly  on  a  smooth  road.  In  that 
toilsome  manner  the  Regiment  marched  until  it  neared  Flint 
River.  Here  the  Rebels  were  massed  to  dispute  the  further 
march  of  the  command.  Our  artillery  was  placed  in  position. 
The  Chicago  Board  of  Trade  and  the  Tenth  Wisconsin  batteries 
for  a  while  threw  their  shells  lively.  A  shell  storm  rained  upon 
the  Rebels,  while  the  command  charged  them  in  front.  This  was 
more  than  they  could  endure.  They  broke  and  fled  in  wild  dis- 
order. The  command  then  crossed  the  river,  and  moved  into 
Jonesboro.  The  road  they  were  after  was  reached. 

It  was  Friday  evening.  The  sun  had  set.  The  torch  had  been 
applied  to  the'  depot,  and  all  public  buildings,  and  verv  soon  the 
little  town  was  a  sea  of  fire,  and  the  heavens  lurid  with  the  flames 
of  the  burning  buildings.  No  time  to  wait — no  time  to  eat — no 
time  to  rest — the  whole  command  fell  to  work.  No  railroad  track 
was  ever  more  effectually  torn  up,  or  faster.  The  railroad  ties 
were  piled  up  and  set  on  fire,  soon  becoming  burning  log  heaps; 
the  iron  rails  were  then  laid  on  them,  and  when  they  showed  a 
white  heat  in  the  center,  the  rails  were  twisted  like  an  auger. 
Sometimes  the  men  would  seize  the  iron  rails  by  the  ends,  after 
they  were  red-hot  in  the  center,  and  bend  them  around  the  trees 
in  ox-bow  shape.  The  destruction  of  the  railway  track  M'ent  con- 
tinuously and  rapidly  forward  until  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night, 
when  a  Rebel  brigade  of  infantry  made  a  bold  attack  from  the 
south.  The  Ninety-Second  was  ordered  to  leave  their  work  of 
destroying  railroad,  and  double-quick  to  the  point  of  action.  The 
men  had  not  time  to  don  their  blue  jackets,  which  they  had  thrown 
off  in  the  hot,  fiery  work  of  destroying  the  track;  but,  seizing 
their  trusty  Spencers,  and  leaving  their  horses,  they  dashed  for- 
ward on  foot  to  the  point  of  attack.  The  cavalry  were  giving 
way  under  the  heavy  fire.  The  Ninety-Second  rushed  in,  stum- 
bling over  the  dead  cavalrymen  that  lay  along  the  line,  and,  in 
obedience  to  orders,  the  Ninety-Second  laid  down.  The  darkness 
of  the  night  showed  sheets  of  flame  rolling  toward  them  from  the 
guns  of  the  enemy.  The  men  of  the  Ninety-Second  gave  them 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  151 

better  than  they  sent.  They  pumped  fire  at  the  enemy  in  volleyed 
thunder  from  their  repeating  rifles.  The  Ninety-Second  alone 
against  a  brigade  of  four  or  five  thousand  Rebel  infantry !  The 
Ninety-Second  checked  the  advance  of  the  enemy,  and  held  them 
at  bay  for  nearly  three  hours.  The  balance  of  the  command 
worked  faithfully,  destroying  the  track,  while  the  enemy  were  be- 
ing thus  held.  Lieutenant  G.  R.  Skinner,  of  Company  D,  a 
Brigade  staff  officer,  came  up  to  Major  Woodcock,  in  command 
of  the  Ninety-Second,  with  orders  for  the  Regiment  to  fall  back  a 
few  rods  to  a  rail  barricade,  built  for  them  by  the  cavalry.  He 
remarked,  "  I  do  not  see  how  men  can  live  any  length  of  time 
under  such  a  fire."  The  Regiment  noiselessly  fell  back  to  the 
barricade,  as  ordered.  After  a  while,  the  enemy  slackened  up 
their  fire;  but  a  broken  sputtering  of  shots  showed  them  still  in 
front,  but  afraid  to  advance.  To  the  north  of  the  town,  the  loud 
scream  of  locomotives  and  the  heavy  rumbling  of  trains  could  be 
heard.  Kilpatrick's  men  knew  that  regiments  of  Rebel  infantry 
from  Atlanta  were  being  hurried  toward  them  as  fast  as  possible. 
The  men  of  the  Ninety-Second  were  so  overcome  with  fatigue, 
that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  them  to  keep  awake.  The  officers 
moved  up  and  down  the  line,  shaking  the  men,  charging  them 
that  their  own  lives,  and  the  lives  of  the  men  of  the  command, 
depended  upon  their  keeping  awake.  About  three  o'clock  A.  M., 
on  Saturday  morning,  the  twentieth,  orders  came  to  Major  Wood- 
cock to  keep  his  men  in  position  fifteen  minutes  longer,  when, 
without  noise,  the  men  were  to  fall  rapidly  back  to  their  horses, 
mount,  and  follow  after  the  command.  The  Regiment  saw  the  rest 
of  the  command  mount  and  move  away.  For  fifteen  minutes  longer 
they  held  the  Rebels;  then,  as  ordered,  the  Regiment  moved 
noiselessly  back,  mounted,  and  rode  rapidly  until  they  overtook 
the  rear  of  the  column.  Many  cavalrymen  lay  upon  the  ground 
insensible  with  fatigue  and  sound  asleep.  The  Ninety-Second 
men  tried  to  rouse  them,  told  them  of  their  danger,  and  tried  to 
get  them  to  move  with  the  command;  but  they  were  as  immov- 
able as  statues,  and,  in  a  few  minutes  afterward,  were  picked  up 
by  the  Rebels.  Alycrah  W.  Latham,  of  Company  K,  was  shot 
through  the  heart;  several  of  the  boys  were  wounded.  The  com- 
mand moved  rapidly  east  of  the  railroad  until  it  struck  a  road 
leading  to  Lovejoy  Station  ;  into  it  the  command  filed,  and  toward 
Lovejoy  they  marched.  When  near  an  extensive  cornfield,  the 
command  halted  for  half  an  hour,  and  the  jaded  animals  were 
given  a  feed  of  green  corn.  Then  the  command  mounted  and 


152  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

moved  on  to  Lovejoy,  where  it  commenced  tearing  up  the  rail- 
road track,  but  a  swarm  •of  Rebel  infantry  drove  the  men  from  the 
work.  The  command  retraced  its  steps,  but,  after  inarching  four 
or  five  miles,  masses  of  Rebel  infantry  were  found  in  its  front. 
The  Rebels  had  been  run  down  from  Atlanta  in  the  cars  during 
the  night.  The  road  led  through  a  very  large  open  field.  In  the 
field  the  command  was  hemmed  in;  dense  columns  of  Rebel  in- 
fantry and  cavalry  surrounded  the  Yankees.  In  this  situation, 
the  command  fought  until  three  o'clock  P.  M.  The  Ninety-Sec- 
ond had  been  frequently  double-quicked  on  foot  from  point  to 
point  of  the  field.  The  enemy's  fire  began  to  converge  from  all 
directions.  The^Rebels  thought  they  could  bag  Kilpatrick,  as 
they  had  done  Stoneman.  In  front,  the  Rebel  artillery  played 
upon  the  men.  To  the  right,  to  the  left,  and  in  rear  of  their  artil- 
lery, gray  lines  of  Rebel  infantry  were  stationed,  with  bristling 
bayonets.  "  Surrender  to.  the  Rebs?  Never!"  was  the  exclama- 
tion of  the  men,  uttered  between  their  grinding  teeth.  Kilpatrick 
formed  his  men  for  the  charge  in  several  columns,  four  horsemen 
abreast  in  each  column.  The  bugles  sounded  the  charge.  Men's 
faces  became  rigid  with  determination ;  thousands  of  sabres  glit- 
tered in  the  sunlight.  The  flashing  sabres  were  a  magnificent 
sight.  The  sky  resounded  with  the  cheers  of  the  men;  the  horses 
caught  the  spirit  of  their  riders,  and  were  wild  with  excitement; 
and  away  the  columns  flew  toward  the  enemy.  They  ran  over 
the  Rebel  artillery,  sabering  the  gunners,  who  gallantly  stood  by 
their  guns.  They  rode  down  the  Rebel  infantry,  their  lines  van- 
ishing like  magic.  Some  of  them  rallied,  and  charged  for  the 
Tenth  Wisconsin  Battery,  and  the  captured  Rebel  batten',  which 
were  in  the  care  of  the  Ninety-Second.  The  Ninety-Second  men 
wheeled  into  line,  and  volleyed  the  charging  Rebels  with  their 
Spencers.  The  Rebels  broke  in  confusion,  and  fled  in  consterna- 
tion. In  the  charge,  (Captain  William  B.  Mayer,  of  Company  F, 
was  wounded;  several  of  the  men  were  hit,  but  none  had  mortal 
wounds. 

Having  captured  the  Rebel  artillery,  three  battle  flags,  and 
many  prisoners,  the  command  moved  east  about  three  miles,  and 
halted.  Kilpatrick  ordered  a  detail,  to  be  made  from  each  com- 
pany of  the  command,  to  go  to  the  adjacent  fields  for  corn  for 
the  animals.  A  regiment  was  thrown  on  the  road,  in  the  rear  of 
the  command,  as  a  picket  guard.  The  detailed  men  had  not 
reached  the  corn-fields,  before  a  heavy  volley  was  fired  into  the 
rear  guard.  The  Rebel  infantrv  had  rallied,  and  were  in  pursuit. 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS:  153 

The  bugles  sounded  recall.  The  men  hastened  back  to  their 
horses;  the  command  mounted,  and  were  away,  on  the  McDon- 
ough  Road.  They  reached  McDonough,  the  county-seat  of 
Henry  County,  about  five  o'clock  P.  M.  The  heavens  grew  sud- 
denly dark  with  clouds.  It  commenced  to  rain.  The  rain  soon 
poured  in  torrents.  It  seemed  as  if  the  very  flood-gates  of 
the  heavens  had  broken  loose.  The  command  moved  through 
the  town,  taking  the  road  northward  toward  Covington.  Captain 
M.  Van  Buskirk,  of  Company  E,  and  Captain  Harvey  M.  Timms, 
of  Company  A,  and  Captain  Horace  J.  Smith,  of  Company  B, 
with  their  companies;  were  ordered  to  move  rapidly,  in  advance 
of  the  whole  command,  to  South  River,  a  branch  of  the  Ocmul- 
gee,  seize  the  bridge,  and  hold  it  until  the  command  crossed. 
On  reaching  the  bridge,  they  found  it  in  possession  of  a  detach- 
ment of  Rebel  cavalry.  The  boys  charged  them,  and  drove  them 
from  the  bridge,  as  they  were  attempting  to  burn  it.  It  was 
already  on  fire,  but  the  boys  soon  extinguished  the  flames.  The 
darkness  had  become  intense.  The  column  crossed  a  small 
stream,  and  halted.  An  Orderly,  from  head-quarters,  came 
along  and  said  to  the  Ninety-Second :  "  You  will  go  in  there  to 
the  left,  and  await  further  orders."  The  Regiment  did  as  di- 
rected; they  tound  themselves  in  a  plowed  field,  flooded  with 
water  by  the  rain  tempest;  mud  and  water  were  nearly  knee  deep. 
Some-  of  the  men,  through  sheer  exhaustion,  sank  down  in  the 
mud  and  water,  and  were  soon  asleep,  and  oblivious  to  suffering; 
others  stood  up,  and  held  their  horses  that  dark,  chilly  night 
through.  Next  morning,  no  sooner  had  faint  streaks  of  light  in 
the  East  indicated  the  approach  of  day,  than  the  command  rc- 
su-med  its  march.  After  crossing  South  River,  on  the  bridge 
saved  by  the  boys  of  companies  E,  A,  and  B,  the  bridge  was 
effectually  destroved.  The  column  moved  on,  until  it  reached 
another  branch  of  the  Ocnuilgee,  called  Cotton  River.  There 
was  no  bridge.  The  heavy  rains  had  swollen  the  stream,  so  that 
it  overflowed  its  banks,  and  its  angry  flood  whirled  madly  along 
its  channel.  The  ford  was  dangerous;  and,  for  some  eighty  feet, 
the  horses  must  swim.  Kilpatrick,  on  the  opposite  bank,  stood 
shouting  to  the  men,  ordering  them  to  "  let  go  the  bridle  rein?, 
and  let  the  horses  guide  themselves."  The  horses,  snorting,  and 
breasting  the  flood,  swam  admirably.  A  frightened  rider  would 
seize  the  bridle,  and  attempt  to  guide  his  horse;  the  horse  would 
turn  up  on  his  side,  and  away  horse  and  rider  would  go,  whirled 
along  by  the  angry  flood.  The  command  was  a  long  time  in 


154  'NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

crossing.  In  the  swollen  stream  were  lost  the  ammunition  train, 
one  piece  of  artillery,  and  several  ambulances,  and  a  number  of 
horses  were  drowned.  The  ambulance  in  which  Captain  William 
B.  Mayer,  of  Company  F,  was  riding,  after  he  had  been  wounded, 
was  lost  in  Cotton  River;  and  the  Captain  came  near  losing  his 
life  in  the  water,  but  caught  hold  of  a  limb  of  a  tree,  and  kept  his 
head  above  water  until  rescued.  Every  man  and  horse  had  a 
cold  bath.  They  were  as  wet  as  drowned  rats,  from  the  rain, 
when  they  went  in;  but  the  bath  washed  away  the  mud. 

The  column  moved  in  the  direction  of  Lithonia,  a  station  on 
the  Georgia  Railroad,  east  of  Atlanta.  About  three  o'clock  i# 
the  afternoon,  it  being  the  Sabbath,  a  lot  of  carriages  and  buggies 
were  met,  leaded  with  ladies  and  gentlemen,  returning  from 
church.  They  were  halted;  and  the  horses  instantly  entered  the 
service  of  Uncle  Sam.  Ladies  and  old  men,  clad  in  their  Sun- 
day suits,  sat  in  their  horseless  carriages,  in  the  center  of  the 
road,  demurely  inspecting  the  Yankees  as  they  passed.  As  the 
Ninetv- Second  moved  by,  the  utmost  courtesy  was  manifested 
toward  the  unfortunates.  Only  one  boy  addressed  them.  To  a 
dark-haired  young  lady,  of  about  eighteen,  he  said  :  "  Sissy,  are 
you  in  favor  of  our  Union?"  She  responded  only  by  a  shake  of 
her  curls,  and  a  flash  of  her  black  eyes.  Lithonia  Station  was 
reached  at  dark.  The  Ninety-Second  was  ordered  into  line  east 
of  the  railroad,  and  directed  to  act  as  a  picket.  It  commenced  to 
rain  again,  and  poured  down  the  entire  night  through. 

On  Monday  morning  early,  the  command  resumed  its  march, 
moving  along  the  railroad  in  the  direction  of  Atlanta.  The 
heavens  had  cleared  lip,  and  the  'blue  sky  was  once  more 
visible.  The  sun  shone  brightly.  About  noon,  the  column 
halted  near  a  large  corn-field;  the  horses  were  fed.  No  Rebels 
were  in  sight.  Large  fires  were  made  of  cedar  rails,  and  the 
boys  doffed  their  clothes,  wrung  out  the  water,  and  hung  them  up 
by  the  fires  to  dry.  Some  of  the  boys,  who  were  not  Free  Ma- 
sons, having  a  great  respect  for  the  Order  (as  they  said\  had  taken 
some  of  the  masonic  clothing  from  the  burning  Masonic  Hall  at 
Jonesboro,  consisting  of  little  aprons  highly  ornamented  with  gold 
and  silver  bullion,  which  they  tied  on,  and  marched  around  in  a 
circle,  saying  it  was  in  commemoration  of  old  father  Adam,  who 
was  partial  to  that,  kind  of  a  dress,  except  that  his  apron  was  made 
of  fig-leaves  instead  of  rich  cloth,  adorned  with  the  precious 
metals. 
•  After  a  little  rest,  the  command  moved,  passing  Stone  Moun- 


NINBTT-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  155 

tain  on  their  right,  a  rocky  peak  that  rises,  solitary  and  grand, 
above  the  surrounding  plain.  On  reaching  Decatur,  the  advance 
struck  a  body  of  Rebel  cavalry.  A  few  volleys  sent  them  flying 
toward  Atlanta.  After  marching  to  a  point  midway  between 
Decatur  and  Atlanta,  the  column  moved  on  a  road  northward, 
and  soon  reached  the  picket  line  on  the  left  of  Sherman's  army. 
The  Ninety-Second  was  warmly  welcomed  by  Wilder's  brigade,  to 
which  it  had  formerly  belonged.  It  was  about  five  o'clock  P.  M. 
Worn  out,  and  burning  with  fever,  from  loss  of  sleep,  the  men 
sank  upon  the  ground  in  heavy  slumber,  and  were  not  disturbed 
until  nine  o'clock  the  next  morning.  Kilpa '.rick's  Division  then 
inarched  to  its  old  encampment,  on  the  right  of  Sherman's  army, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Chattahoochfee,  having  made  a  complete  cir- 
cuit around  both  the  Confederate  and  United  States  Armies. 

On  August  twenty-fifth,  with  three  days'  rations,  the  Ninety- 
Second  marched,  at  sundown,  six  miles,  toward  West  Point,  and 
lay  in  line  of  battle  all  night.  At  noon,  on  the  twenty-sixth,  the 
Regiment  marched  back  to  camp  at  Sandtown.  At  eleven 
o'clock  at  night,  orders  came  to  march  at  twelve  o'clock ;  drew 
rations,  and  marched,  at  midnight,  to  same  point  occupied  the 
night  previous.  At  noon  next  day,  crossed  the  creek,  and  marched 
six  miles,  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  and  threw  up  barricades. 
The  country  was  poor,  and  forage  for  animals  scarce,  but  sweet 
potatoes  were  plenty,  to  go  with  and  save  the  hard-tack  and 
bacon-  The  firing  was  continuous  all  night.  The  morning  of 
the  twenty-eight  broke  in  perfect  calm,  neither  party  attacking. 
The  Regiment  moved  at  seven  A.  M.,  traveling  down  the  Mont- 
gomery Railroad,  and  soon  found  the  enemy  in  force.  The 
Ninety-Second  was  dismounted,  and  advanced  one  mile  up  the 
railroad  track,  toward  Atlanta,  getting  an  occasional  shell  from 
the  Rebel  artillery,  the  enemy  retreating.  After  a  while,  the 
Yankee  artillery  was  brought  into  requisition,  and  silenced  the 
Rebel  guns.  The  line  of  battle  of  the  Regiment  extended  across 
the  railroad  track,  and  rail  barricades  had  been  thrown  up,  when 
the  infantry  relieved  the  Ninety-Second.  Four  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  men  were  wounded  by  the  Rebel  artillery.  The  Regi- 
ment mounted,  and  moved  down  the  railroad.  The  Regiment 
was  again  dismounted,  and  moved  farther  down  the  railroad,  to 
hold  the  front  in  that  direction,  until  the  other  regiments  built 
barricades.  Here  the  Regiment  remained  until  ten  o'clock  P.  M., 
constantly  under  fire,  but  they  gave  the  enemy  so  careful  atten- 
tion that  they  dared  not  advance;  moved  back  to  the  barricades, 


t$6  N1NRTT-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

and  held  them  until  two  hours  after  daylight  the  next  morning, 
when  the  Ninety-Second  was  again  relieved  by  the  infantry,  and 
ordered  back  to  the  horses;  and  to  remain  ready  to  march  at  the 
bugle  call,  and  remained  saddled  all  day.  Eight  miles  of  the  rail- 
road was  utterly  destroyed,  rails  burned  and  twisted  around 
trees  and  telegraph  poles,  in  fantastic  shapes,  and  the  ties 
burned  up.  At  night,  the  Ninety-Second  was  ordered  on 
picket  duty,  holding  the  skirmish  line  all  night.  The  cavalry  did 
good  service  in  building  barricades,  but  their  carbines,  pistols,  and 
sabres  were  not  worth  a  cent  for  fighting;  and,  of  course,  the 
Ninety-Second,  with  their  long-range  repeating  rifles,  did  •  the 
fighting  and  dangerous  duty  for  the  Division.  The  post  of  danger 
was  the  post  of  honor,  and  the  Ninety-Second  always  held  it. 
At  seven  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  August  thirtieth,  1864,  the 
Ninety-Second  moved  on  the  road  toward  Jonesboro,  having  the 
advance  of  the  Armv  of  the  Tennessee.  General  Howard  was  in 
command  of  that  army,  General  Logan  commanding  the  fif- 
teenth corps.  The  Ninety-Second  skirmished  with  the  enemv 
constantly,  driving  them  easily  until  it  reached  Bethsaida  Church, 
where,  beyond  an  open  field,  the  enemy  were  massed  behind  a 
long  line  of  works.  Generals  Logan  and  Kilpatrick  reconnoi- 
tered  the 'position.  Kilpatrick  said:  "Logan,  throw  forward 
some  of  vour  infantry,  an-:!  charge  them  out."  Logan  said :  "  Kil- 
patrick, you  are  a  charging  man ;  charge  yourself."  The  order 
then  came  to  the  Ninety-Second :  "  With  the  Regiment  on 
horseback,  you  will  charge  those  works,  and  drive  out  the  Rebs." 
The  question  was  asked  :  "  May  we  not  charge  on  foot,  as  we 
are  accustomed  to?"  The  reply  was:  "You  will  charge  on 
horseback."  Kilpatrick  wished  to  show  his  cavalry.  The  Ninety- 
Second  men  will  remember  how  hard  it  was  to  wheel  the  horses 
into  line  in  that  tangled  wild  wood,  beneath  a  galling  fire,  the 
bullets  rattling  like  hail  against  the  trees.  Some  of  the  men 
shouted:  "Let  us  charge  on  foot."  The  reply  was:  "  No,  we 
are  ordered  to  charge  on  horse."  The  command  was  given — 
"  forward."  Like  wild  mad-caps,  the  Ninetv-Second  dashed  over 
that  field,  and  threw  their  horses  against  the  works;  they  brought 
their  Spencers  down,  and  pumped  fire  into  that  living  mass; 
stricken  with  fear,  the  enemy  fled.  The  ground  along  the  works 
was  strown  with  Rebel  dead  and  dying.  Some  prisoners  were 
taken.  One  boy,  of  Company  I,  in  his  excitement,  sprung  from 
his  horse  upon  the  hack  of  a  big  Johnny,  and,  grabbing  him  by 
the  collar,  dragged  him  over  the  works,  and,  leading  him  up  to 


NINETr-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  157 

Captain  Becker,  said:  "Cap,  here's  a  prisoner;  what  shall  I 
do  with  him  ?"  Captain  Becker  said :  "  Take  him  back  to  the 
rear."  Boy  said :  "  I  have  not  time,  Cap ;  you  take  him 
back;  I  want  to  go  for  another!"  This  charge  cost  the  Ninety- 
Second  valuable  lives,  although  the  Rebels  lost  ten  to  our  one. 
Here  Lieutenant  Dawson,  of  Company  H,  was  mortally  wounded, 
than  whom  a  better,  braver  soldier  never  lived.  His  loss  to  Com- 
pany H,  and  to  the  Regiment,  was  irreparable.  His  body  sleeps 
bv  the  Chattahoochee;  but  his  noble,  daring  spirit  finds  rest  in  the 
soldier's  paradise. 

The  Regiment  moved  forward  again  on  the  Jonesboro  Road, 
until  it  reached  a  valley,  where  it  was  ordered  to  halt.  Here  the 
Regiment  witnessed  a  splendid  artillery  duel.  On  the  range  of 
hills  east  of  the  Regiment  was  Rebel  artillery;  on  a  western  sum- 
mit our  batteries  were  in  position.  We  were  midway  between 
the  two.  It  was  a  grand  scene  to  witness.  White  wreaths  of 
smoke  curled  upward  from  the  guns,  white  wreaths  from  the 
bursting  shells;  Rebel  shot  howled  over  us;  our  shells  went 
screaming  over  us  back  again.  Thunder  answered  to  thunder, 
peai  to  peal,  crash  to  crash !  Earth  fairly  shook.  Our  boys  beat. 
The  Rebel  gunners  limbered  up,  and  rumbled  away.  Onward 
we  moved,  still  toward  Jonesboro.  We  marched  until  we  reached 
Flint  River  Valley,  about  two  miles  from  town.  As  we  looked 
down  from  the  hill  we  saw  the  river,  a  bridge  spanning  it;  Rebel 
ranks  were  guarding  the  bridge,  and  about  to  destroy  it.  "  For- 
ward, the  Ninety-Second!"  was  the  order.  "Charge  the  Rebs, 
save  the  bridge ! "  At  our  request,  we  charged  on  foot.  On  the 
run  the  Ninety-Second  went  in,  cheer  upon  cheer  uttered  as  the 
men  dashed  upon  the  Rebs.  They  could  not  stand  the  blaze  of 
the  Ninety-Second  Spencers;  they  fled.  The  bridge  was  saved. 
As  the  Ninety-Second  was  returning  to  their  horses,  they  met 
Generals  Howard  and  Osterhaus.  General  Howard  said :  "  Boys, 
that  was  a  splendid  charge ;  you  are  a  noble  Regiment."  Oster- 
haus said:  "Das  ist  ein  goot  Regiment;  dey  trills  de  infantry 
irill."  Each  man  in  the  Ninety-Second,  after  those  compliments, 
felt  as  big  as  a  full-fledged  Major  General ;  and  thev  had  a  right 
to  feel  thus,  for  they  were  good,  brave,  noble  boys.  Had  they 
been  ordered  to  charge  into  the  very  jaws  of  death,  they  would 
have  done  it.  As  soon  as  mounted,  Kilpatrick  said:  "Captain 
Estes  will  accompany  you,  and  give  you  my  orders."  The  Ninety- 
Second  moved  down  the  hill,  and  as  it  was  crossing  the  bridge, 
Estes  said  to  an  infantry  Colonel  who  stood  bv :  "  Colonel,  the 


158  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

cavalry  will  beat  the  infantry.  We  are  going  right  into  Jones- 
boro."  We  made  a  right  turn  as  we  crossed  the  bridge,  and 
marched  down  the  left  bank  of  the  river.  The  shades  of  night 
were  falling.  The  Ninety -Second  had  marched  and  fought  the 
blessed  day  through — no  rest,  no  dinner,  no  coffee  or  little  hard- 
tack. After  moving  about  a  mile  and  a  half  down  the  river,  the 
Regiment  came  to  a  swale;  it  was  getting  quite  dark.  Some  of 
the  men  said:  "Yonder  are  the  Rebels !  I  see  their  line;  there 
are  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  them."  Estes  replied :  "  It's  a 
d — d  lie ;  there's  not  a  Rebel  between  us  and  Jonesboro."  As  the 
Regiment  crossed  the  swale,  and  reached  the  foot  of  a  hill,  a  roll- 
ing volley  of  musketry  greeted  it.  Estes  said :  "  The  General 
directs  that  you  dismount  your  command,  charge  the  hill,  take  it, 
and  hold  it."  He  then  moved  rapidly  to  the  rear.  In  advance  of 
the  rest  of  our  Division,  we  knew  not  how  far,  the  line  of  the 
Rebel  army  running  -across  the  top  of  that  hill,  the  Ninety-Sec- 
ond alone  was  ordered  to  charge  the  hill,  take  and  hold  it.  Great 
God,  what  a  task !  "  Prepare  to  fight  on  foot,"  was  the  order. 

"  Was  there  a  man  dismayed? 
Not  tho'  the  soldier  knew 
Some  one  had  blundered; 
Theirs  not  to  make  reply, 
Theirs  not  to  reason  why ; 
Theirs  but  to  do  and  die. 
Into  the  Valley  of  Death 
Rode  the  Six  Hundred." 

"  Forward !  "  was  the  command.  How  like  demons  the  Ninety- 
Second  fought  its  wav  up  that  hill.  Terrible  was  the  roll  of  its 
Spencers.  The  incessant,  unbroken  fire  of  the  Ninety-Second 
guns  the  Rebs,  though  ten  to  one,  could  not  withstand.  Dis- 
mayed, they  recoiled  and  fled  back  to  the  foot  of  the  hill.  "  Lie 
down!"  was  the  order.  The  Ninety-Second  obeved.  How 
closely,  how  lovingly  the  men  hugged  old  mother  earth ;  had  they 
not  done  it,  there  would  probably  have  been  but  one  reunion  of 
the  Ninety-Second,  and  that  beyond  the  skies — for  fire  to  the 
right  of  them,  fire  in  front  of  them,  fire  to  the  left  of  them,  volleyed 
and  flamed !  Should  the  men  of  the  Ninety-Second  live  until 
they  are  wrinkled  and  gray,  they  will  never  forget  the  terrible 
hissing,  whistling,  and  whizzing  of  bullets  above  them.  It  seemed 
as  if  ten  thousand  colonies  of  bees  were  let  loose  in  the  trees  about 
them.  One,  two  and  three  different  messengers  were  sent  back 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  159 

with  the  word,  "  We  hold  the  hill,  send  us  reinforcements  or  fur- 
ther orders."  The  Division  had  come  up.  The  balance  of  the 
Brigade  tried  to  form  on  the  left  of  the  Ninety-Second,  but  could 
not;  had  the  balance  of  the  Brigade  succeeded,  a  general  engage- 
ment of  the  two  armies  would  have  ensued.  Orders  came — "  Fall 
back." 

"  Stormed  at  with  shot  and  shell, 

While  horse  and  hero  fell, 

They  that  had  fought  so  well 

Came  thro'  the  jaws  of  Death, 

Back  from  the  mouth  of  Hell, 

All  that  was  left  of  them." 

One-fifth  of  the  number  engaged  were  killed  or  wounded,  and 
nearly  all  while  lying  flat  upon  the  ground.  In  this  fight  Lieu- 
tenant Sam  mis  was  twice  wounded,  one  wound  crippling  him  for 
life.  It  was  midnight  before  the  Ninety-Second  sank  to  rest  on 
the  ground.  Thus  ended  an  eventful  day  in  the  history  of  the 
Ninetj'-Second  Regiment.  A  day  or  two  after,  General  Howard 
issued  an  order  to  Kilpatrick,  complimenting  him  for  the  brilliant 
diversion  made  by  the  cavalry  on  his  right,  which  enabled  him  to 
get  his  men  into  line  without  firing  a  gun.  The  brilliant  diver- 
sion referred  to  was  made  by  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Regi- 
ment, and  by  that  Regiment  alone. 

The  following  is  the  list  of  killed  and  wounded :  In  Company 
D,  Lieutenant  Oscar  F.  Sammis,  twice  severely  wounded.  In 
Company  B,  Lieutenant  H.  C.  Cooling,  wounded.  In  Company 
H,  Lieutenant  William  H.  Dawson,  mortally  wounded.  In  Com- 
pany D,  private  John  Reed,  severely  wounded  in  side ;  private 
Stephen  B.  Lowe,  slightly  wounded  in  foot;  private  Augustus 
Johnson,  severely  wounded;  private  Walter  Scott,  killed.  In 
Company  G,  Corporal  James  M.  Phillips,  wounded;  Corpo- 
ral William  Backe,  wounded  ;  private  John  J.  Smith,  se- 
verely wounded  ;  private  David  Grossman,  severely  wound- 
ed ;  private  Christopher  Houser,  wounded  ;  Corporal  John 
F.  Spalding,  wounded;  Corporal  William  Dougherty,  wound- 
ed. In  Company  C,  Corporal  William  Johnson,  severely 
wounded ;  private  Thomas  D.  Oakley,  wounded  and  taken  pris- 
oner. In  Company  H,  private  Squire  Diamond,  killed;  private 
James  W.  Burton,  severely  wounded;  private  Harvey  Schermer- 
horn,  severely  wounded.  In  Company  A,  private  John  Deniouis, 
severely  wounded;  private  Allen  Rand,  wounded ;  private  Michael 


i6o  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

Wcndling,  wounded.  In  Company  E,  private  Edward  Crawford, 
severely  wounded,  arm  amputated;  private  Joseph  McElhiney, 
wounded.  In  Company  K,  private  Augustus  Stalhout,  killed. 

At  three  o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  the  thirty-first  of  August, 
the  Ninety-Second  was  ordered  to  cross  to  the  other  side  of  Flint 
River,  which  it  did,  and  rested  until  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  when  the 
Regiment  mounted  and  moved  south  four  or  five  miles,  and  then 
moved  eastwardly,  toward  Harris's  Bridge.  Before  reaching  the 
bridge,  the  Regiment  was  halted,  and  horses  were  fed  from  a  corn- 
field. The  Regiment,  with  the  Cavalry  Division,  was  then  on 
the  right  of  General  Howard's  army  corps.  About  two  o'clock 
P.  M.,  the  corps  of  the  Confederate  Generals  Stephen  D.  Lee  and 
Hardee  moved  out  of  their  works  at  Jonesboro,  and  attacked  Gen- 
era! Howard  fiercely ;  but  Howard  was  prepared  for  them,  and  in  the 
contest  that  ensued  the  slaughter  of  the  enemy  was  fearful.  The 
battle  lasted  for  two  hours.  The  thunder  of  artillery  and  roar  of 
musketry  reminded  the  Ninety-Second  of  Chicamauga.  A  por- 
tion of  the  cavalry  of  Kilpatrick's  Division  were  beyond  the  field 
in  which  the  Ninety-Second  was  resting  and  feeding  their  horses, 
and,  when  the  Rebel  infantry  charged,  the  cavalry  broke  and  re- 
treated in  confusion.  As  a  matter  of  course,  when  our  cavalry 
came  skedaddling  back,  the  Ninety-Second  was  ordered  forward 
on  foot,  on  the  double-quick.  The  Regiment  deployed  in  the 
edge  of  open  oak  woods,  under  a  galling  fire,  arid  met  the  gray- 
coated  Confederate  infantry  charging  across  an  open  field  in  their 
front  The  Ninety-Second- opened  upon  them  with  their  Spencer 
Repeating  Rifles,  and  with  terrible  effect.  The  enemy  could  not 
stand  the  unremitting,  and  cool  and  steady  fire  from  the  Spencers 
of  the  Ninety-Second;  they  faltered  in  their  charge;  they  broke; 
in  confusion  the  gray-coats  fell  back  to  some  scattering  timber, 
and  there  kept  up  a  desultory  fire  upon  the  Ninety-Second.  The 
Regiment  had  soon  thrown  up  a  barricade:  but  the  enemy  did 
not  again  venture  a  charge.  In  their  first  charge  and  retreat,  sev- 
eral hundred  Rebels  had  fallen  before  the  Spencer  Rifles  of  the 
Ninety-Second.  Several  of  the  Ninety-Second  were  wounded, 
among  whom  were  Charles  Ames,  of  Company  B,  making  him  a 
cripple  for  life.  George  Walters,  one  of  the  Color  Guard,  was 
wounded,  but  would  not  leave  the  Old  Flag  until  after  the  fight 
was  over.  A  bullet  struck  the  gun  of  Albert  Bissel,  of  Company 
K,  passed  between  the  stock  and  barrel  of  his  gun,  then  struck 
him  on  the  forehead,  and  traversed  the  upper  part  of  the  cranium, 
laying  open  the  scalp.  "  Bert,"  after  picking  himself  up,  coolly 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  161 

tied  up  his  bleeding  head  with  his  handkerchief,  and  continued  to 
fight. 

After  Howard's  corps  had  given  the  enemy  a  general  repulse, 
the  Ninety-Second  moved  back  three  miles  with  the  Cavalry 
Division,  and  camped.  On  the  morning  of  the  first  of  Septem- 
ber, the  Ninety-Second  moved  out,  at  seven  o'clock  A.  M.,  taking 
a  road  that  had  been  cut  through  the  woods,  and  which  led  to  the 
river.  On  reaching  the  river,  at  Anthony's  Bridge,  the  Regi- 
ment halted.  The  enemy  was  in  heavy  force  on  the  other  side. 
The  Ninety-Second  dismounted,  and  soon  threw  up  breastworks, 
behind  which  the  Regiment  lay,  skirmishing  with  the  gray-coats. 
The  battery  of  the  Cavalry  Division  did  some  splendid  firing, 
dropping  their  shell  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy.  Griffin,  one  of 
Kilpatrick's  dare-devil  scouts,  mounted  into  a  tree  above  the 
Regiment,  where  he  could  get  a  fair  sight.  Whenever  a  shell 
from  our  battery  did  fine  execution,  Griffin  would  sing  out,  "  That 
whoops  'em;  hit  'em  again."  Just  as  the  shades  of  evening 
began  to  fall,  the  Seventeenth  army  corps,  led  by  Major  General 
Frank  P.  Blair,  moved  up,  relieving  the  Ninety-Second,  and  the 
balance  of  the  Cavalry  Division.  The  Regiment  then  moved 
back  about  two  miles,  and  bivouaced,  for  the  night,  in  a  peach 
orchard.  During  the  night,  while  the  Ninety-Second  lay  bivou* 
acing  there  in  the  peach  orchard,  heavy  explosions  of  magazines 
were  heard  in  the  direction  of  Atlanta,  and  it  was  rightly  con- 
jectured that  the  enemy  were  evacuating  that  Rebel  stronghold. 
On  the  second  of  September,  the  Ninety-Second  was  in  the 
saddle  early,  and  moved  still  farther  to  the  right  of  Sherman's 
army,  skirmishing  constantly  with  the  enemy.  *At  ten  o'clock 

A.  M.,  the  Colonel  rode  up  to  the  head  of  the  Ninety-Second,  and 
assumed  command.     He  was  greeted  with  cheers  by  the  men. 
Soon  afterward,  General  Kilpatrick,  at  a  house  by  the  road-side, 
called  to  the  Colonel,  and  said:      " The  Ninety-Second  is  tempo- 
rarily detached   from   Colonel    Murray's   brigade,   and    you  wil!^ 
report  directly  to,  and  receive  your  orders  directly  from,  Division 
head-quarters.     Glass's  Bridge  is  about  two  miles  ahead,  and   I 
want  you  to  take  it;  don't  let. the  enemy  burn  it;  now  go  for  it, 
Atkins."      The    Ninety-Second   moved  out   in   advance   of    the 
Division;  Company  F,  under  the  command  of  Captain  William 

B.  Mayer,  and   Company  C,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant 
George  P.  Sutton — two  as  gallant  and  brave  officers  as  ever  drew 
sabres,  with  companies  as  gallant — were  in  advance,  with  orders 
from  the  Colonel  to  charge,  on  the  dead  rvin,  Glass's  Bridge,  and 

20 


162  NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

take  it,  if  it  was  possible.  The  advance  moved  on.  Silently  the 
Regiment  followed.  Soon  there  was  a  volley,  then  a  shout ;  the 
two  companies  dashed  gallantly  forward.  The  enemy  were  not 
prepared  for  so  sudden  and  brave  an  attack,  and,  although  they 
had  partially  destroyed  the  bridge,  it  was  saved.  The  flooring 
had  been  removed,  and  preparations  for  firing  the  balance  made; 
but  the  fire  was  extinguished.  The  Regiment  soon  came  up. 
Plunging  into  Flint  River,  it  crossed.  A  detail  to  repair  the 
bridge  set  to  work.  Company  B,  a  gallant  company,  under  com- 
mand of  as  gallant  an  officer  as  ever  mounted,  Captain  Horace 
J.  Smith,  was  sent  toward  Lovejoy's  Station,  on  a  road  to  the  left, 
and  the  balance  of  the  Regiment  moved  forward  on  the  direct 
road,  and,  after  marching  about  two  miles,  the  Regiment  halted 
to  feed  animals;  but  the  men  had  scarcely  dismounted,  when 
word  came  that  Captain  Smith  had  struck  the  enemy  in  heavy 
force;  in  fact,  he  had  run  into  the  camps  of  the  Rebel  cavalry 
guarding  that  flank  of  the  Rebel  army ;  he  was  hotly  pushed  back, 
the  enemy  being  in  overwhelming  force;  and  the  Ninety-Second 
must  rapidly  return,  to  be  able  to  keep  from  being  cut  off  from 
Glass's  Bridge.  "  Boot  and  saddle"  was  sounded  from  Regiment 
head-quarters;  the  Ninety-Second  men  vaulted  into  their  saddles, 
and  it  was  n.  dead  race  to  get  back  to  Glass's  Bridge  and  cross 
before  the  enemy  held  the  road.  Company  B  fought  like  Tro- 
jans; they  apparently  appreciated  the  stake  they  were  fighting  for; 
and  falling  back,  inch  by  inch,  from  barricade  to  barricade,  they 
held  the  overwhelming  forces  opposing  them.  The  bridge  had 
been  repaired,  and  Companies  A  and  E,  as  soon  as  over  the  bridge, 
were  dismounted,  and  sent  on  the  road  towards  Lovejoy's,  to 
relieve  Company  B,  that  had  so  gallantly  held  the  road  for  the 
Regiment  to  make  good  its  escape  by  recrossing  Flint  River. 
As  soon  as  across  the  Flint,  the  Regiment  dismounted,  and  sent 
its  horses  to  the  rear.  Company  B,  under  the  command  of  Cap- 
tain Smith,  passed  through  Companies  A  and  E,  and  dismounted, 
and,  sending  their  horses  to  the  rear,  joined  the  line  of  battle  of 
the  Regiment.  The  bridge  was  at  an  elbow  in  Flint  River.  The 
Regiment  threw  up  a  barricade,  or  breastwork,  of  rails,  old  logs, 
anything  to  stop  a  rifle-ball ;  and  the  Regiment,  in  elbow  shape, 
laid  down  behind  their  temporary  breastworks  in  line  of  battle. 
The  enemy  came  up  in  strong  force,  and  attempted  to  dislodge 
the  Regiment  with  musketry ;  they  brought  up  their  artillery. 
Two  Yankee  batteries  fired  over  the  Regiment,  and  the  shell. 
iron?  Yankee  and  Rebel  artillery,  screaming  over-therh,  made  the 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  163 

men  hug  the  ground.  The  Rebel  artillery  was  silenced.  An 
attempt  by  the  Rebels  was  made  to  cross  the  river,  on  the  left  of 
the  Ninety-Second,  but  it  was  repulsed.  Five  horses  were  killed 
by  the  Rebel  artillery.  After  dark,  leaving  a  company  on  duty 
at  the  bridge,  the  Regiment  moved  back  beyond  the  hill,  and 
bivouaced  for  the  night.  Lieutenant  Frost,  of  Company  A,  a 
faithful  and  brave  officer,  was  wounded.  The  next  day,  the  Di- 
vision lay  still,  listening  to  the  infantry  firing,  which  was  con- 
tinuous and  heavy.  At  ten  P.  M.,  the  Division  marched,  the 
Ninety-Second  covering  the  rear.  It  crossed  the  bridge,  and 
silently  moved  along  the  sandy  road,  skirting  the  left  of  the  Rebel 
infantry,  and  joined  the  blue-coats  on  the  right  of  Sherman's 
army.  After  the  command  had  crossed,  the  Ninety-Second 
destroyed  the  bridge,  and  followed  the  command.  It  was  a  dan- 
gerous march.  Had  the  Rebel  infantry  discovered  the  movement, 
it  could  not  have  been  made.  It  was  so  quietly  accomplished,  in 
the  middle  of  the  night,  that  it  was  not  discovered,  and  the  whole 
Cavalry  Division  was  placed  on  the  east  side  of  Flint  River,  and 
safely  in  rear  of  Sherman's  right.  The  next  day,  the  Regiment 
lay  all  day  saddled  up,  and  expecting  orders,  but  none  came. 
The  rain  poured  down.  On  the  night  of  September  first,  the 
enemy  abandoned  Atlanta,  and,  on  the  morning  of  the  second, 
General  Slocum,  commanding  the  Twentieth  corps,  entered  that 
city.  On  the  fifth,  General  Sherman  directed  his  army  to  cease 
the  pursuit  of  the  Confederate  army,  and  return  to  Atlanta,  to 
recuperate  and  rest,  after  its  incessant  campaign  of  four  months. 
The  object  of  the  summer's  campaign  had  been  attained.  At 
night,  fires  were  kindled  as  usual ;  but  as  soon  as  darkness  had 
settled  down,  the  infantry  silently  withdrew,  and  took  the  road  to 
Atlanta,  the  cavalry  remaining  some  hours  afterward,  when  it 
also  withdrew,  the  Ninety-Second  bringing  up  the  rear.  The 
night  was  pitchy  dark.  After  marching  a  few  miles,  it  was  found 
that  about  half  the  Regiment  had  become  separated  from  the 
advance,  and  was  marching  alone,  on  a  road  leading  to  Flint 
River.  It  was  overtaken,  came  to  an  about  face,  pushed  back  to 
the  cross-roads,  where  it  had  taken  the  wrong  direction.  The 
enemv  had  now  discovered  the  movement,  and  his  skirmishers 
had  just  reached  the  road.  A  few  volleys  held  him  until  the 
Ninety-Second  passed,  and  joined  the  advance.  About  three  A. 
M.,  of  September  sixth,  the  Regiment  crossed  Flint  River,  two 
miles  west  of  Jonesboro,  where  it  bivouaced,  guarding  -the  bridge 
all  dav.  The  Rebel  infantry  showed  themselves  in  light  force,  but 


164  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

made  no  attempt  to  take  the  bridge.  On  the  morning  of  the 
seventh,  a  few  shells  were  tossed  towards  Jonesboro,  occupied  by 
the  Rebels.  The  bridge  across  Flint  River  was  destroyed,  and 
the  Division  marched  to  a  point, 'on  the  Montgomery  and  West 
Point  Railroad,  south-west  of  Atlanta,  the  enemy  following, 
lightly  skirmishing,  with  the  Ninety-Second  holding  the  rear. 
Camped  at  night,  with  no  rations  for  the  men,  and  no  forage  for 
the  animals.  Marched,  early  on  the  eighth,  to  Mt.  Gilead 
Church,  ten  miles  south-west  of  Atlanta,  and  camped.  One  day's 
rations  were  issued.  A  soldier,  in  his  diary,  writes :  "  We  were 
all  very  hungry ;  some  of  us  have  not  had  a  mouthful  of  food  for 
the  last  three  days."  The  next  day,  the  ninth  of  September, 
three  days'  rations  were  issued;  the  Regimental  wagon-train 
came  up;  permanent  camp  was  established ;  the  summer's  cam- 
paign was  ended,  and  the  army  was  at  rest. 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

No  REST — OFF  AGAIN,  AFTER  HOOD — POWDER  SPRINGS- 
DRAWING  THE  ENEMY'S  FIRE — PICKING  OUT  A  FARM — 
VAN  WERT-^WASHING  FOR  GOLD  IN  THE  GOLD  MINES — 
MARIETTA — GETTING  READY  FOR  THE  GREAT  MARCH — 
THE  START — BEAR  CREEK — PONTOONS  DESCRIBED — FEINT- 
ING ON  FORSYTH  AND  MACON — CREWS'S  REBEL  BRIGADE 

SCATTERED— REPULSING  THE  ENEMY  NEAR  MACON — SHER- 
MAN'S BUMMERS — MILLEDGEVILLE — '•  BLOWED  UP" — HOLD- 
ING THE  REAR  AGAINST  WHEELER  AND  HAMPTON — RE- 
PULSING THE  REBEL  CAVALRY  NEAR  BUCKHEAD  CREEK — 
RESTING  AT  LOUISVILLE,  GEORGIA — DESTROYING  RAIL- 
ROADS— THE  BATTLE  OF  WAYNESBORO — CAPTURING  A 
REBEL  MAJOR — A  NEGRO  BOY'S  GRAVE — COVERING  THE 
REAR  OF  THE  I4TH  A.  C. — OUR  FRIENDS  CRUELLY  LEFT 
BEHIND — COVERING  THE  REAR  OF  THE  iyTH  A.  C. — FALL 
OF  FORT  MCALLISTER — MIDWAY  CHURCH — DOWN  TO  THE 
OCEAN'S  EDGE — LOCKRIDGE'S  CAPTURE  AND  ESCAPE — FALL 
OF  SAVANNAH — SHERMAN'S  LETTER  TO  KILPATRICK. 

The  rest  that  the  cavalry  expected  to  enjoy  was  immediately 
broken.  Seven  men  belonging  to  the  Cavalry  Division  were 
captured  on  the  tenth  of  September,  1864,  by  the  enemy,  who 
commenced  feeling  our  lines.  Foraging  parties  were  compelled 
to  go  several  miles  for  corn  for  the  animals,  and  to  fight  for  it 
when  found.  A  few  wagon  loads  of  corn  sometimes  cost  the 
lives  of  many  men.  On  Sunday,  the  eleventh,  the  bodies  of  the 
seven  Union  soldiers  were  found,  lying  together,  shot  by  the 
Rebels,  after  they  had  surrendered !  Their  bodies  were  brought 
to  camp  and  buried.  On  the  thirteenth,  a  foraging  party,  with 
eighty  wagons  and  four  hundred  men,  went  ten  miles  south-west 
after  corn,  skirmishing  all  the  way  out  and  back.  On  the  four- 
teenth, the  Ninety-Second  once  more  turned  out  for  dress-parade. 
On  the  sixteenth,  there  was  light  picket  firing;  at  night,  the  Smith 
D.  Atkins  Lodge  of  Free  Masons  met  in  an  unoccupied  house, 


i66  N1NETT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

and  worked  on  the  first,  second  and  third  degrees.  On  the  nine- 
teenth, the  Rebels  showed  themselves  in  considerable  force  on  the 
Montgomery  and  West  Point  Railroad,  near  Fairburn's  Station, 
and  also  on  the  Chattahoochee,  below  Sandtown  and  Campbell- 
town.  On  the  fourteenth,  there  was  a  Brigade  Review  and  In- 
spection on  horseback :  at  twelve  o'clock  P.  M.,  the  pickets  were 
smartly  attacked,  and  the  bugles  blew  "  boot  and  saddle,"  but  the 
enemy  did  not  push  the  attack.  At  one  P.  M.,  on  the  twenty- 
first,  the  Regiment  was  ordered  to  send  wagon  trains,  sick  men, 
and  debris  to  Marietta,  and  march  light,  at  three  P.  M. ;  but  the 
enemy  were  farther  and  farther  oft",  apparently  moving  around  our 
right  flank  on  Rome.  On  the  twenty-third,  a  soldier  writes  in 
his  diary :  "  Nothing  stirring  in  camp  to-dav  until  evening,  when 
we  gathered  around  Colonel  Atkins's  quarters  and  called  for  a 
speech.  He  responded,  and  the  best  of  feeling  prevailed,  and  loud 
cheers  the  result.  His  speech  was  divided  into  two  parts — the  re- 
lation and  standing  of  the  Ninety-Second  Regiment,  and  politics 
generally.  The  latter,  as  well  as  the  former,  was  handled  in  a 
patriotic  manner."  On  the  twentv-sixth,  there  was  Brigade  In- 
spection and  Review.  The  two  ways  of  drilling,  cavalry  on 
horseback,  and  infantry  on  loot,  was  bothersome,  and  Colonel 
Atkins  decided  to  drill  the  same  on  horseback  and  on  foot,  and 
this  evening,  for  the  first  time,  dress-parade  was  held  in  a  single 
line.  The  boys  did  all  they  could  to  make  the  time  pass  cheer- 
fully; one  writes  in  his  diary:  "  It  has  been  cheerful  in  Company 
B  to-night.  Frank  Crowell  is  a  natural  clown,  and  his  presence 
is  always  welcome.  He  soon  makes  everything  merry  in  a  com- 
pany." On  the  twenty-seventh,  there  was  Regimental  drill  on 
horseback;  the  pickets  were  driven  in,  and  one  man  in  Company 
A  was  captured.  The  twenty-eighth  was  spent  in  horse-racing, 
at  Division  head-quarters.  On  the  twenty-ninth,  the  Colonel  was 
detailed  as  President  of  a  Court  Martial,  at  Division  head-quar- 
ters, and  Major  Woodcock  commanded  the  Regiment.  On  the 
thirtieth,  a  soldier  writes  in  his  diary :  ••  A  beautiful  day — but  no 
mail.  The  Rebels  are  superintending  the  railroad  north  of  At- 
lanta, and  it  begins  to  looks  as  if  we  must  soon  pull  out  after  the 
gray -coats  again."  At  one  o'clock,  in  the  morning  of  October  first, 
1864,  the  tents  were  struck,  the  sick  and  baggage  moved  to  Mari- 
etta, and  at  three  A.  M.,  the  Regiment  moved  out,  under  command . 
of  Captain  Lyman  Preston,  Major  Woodcock  being  ill,  and  Colo- 
nel Atkins  in  command  of  the  Brigade.  The  Division  crossed  the 
Chattahoochee,  on  pontoons,  at  Sandtown,  and  marched  thirty 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  167 

miles  north-west,  to  Sweetwater.  Charles  T.  Freeguard,  of  Com- 
pany G,  was  transferred  to  Regimental  Adjutant,  vice  Lawver,  re- 
signed, and  Harry  G.  Fowler,  First  Sergeant  Company  G,  was 
promoted  to  First  Lieutenant. 

The  next  day,  the  command  struck  the  trail  of  Hood's  army, 
moving  northward.  It  was  evident  that  he  was  moving  in  force, 
and  had  protected  his  army  the  night  previous,  by  heavy  lines  of 
rifle  pits.  At  noon,  the  Second  Brigade,  commanded  by  Colonel 
Atkins,  struck  the  enemy  at  a  small  creek;  and  the  Ninety- 
Second,  dismounting,  crossed  the  creek  on  fallen  trees,  and  drove 
a  regiment  of  Rebel  cavalry  out  oi  its  camp,  and  captured  one 
Rebel  infantryman,  a  straggler,  but  furnishing  positive  proof  that 
the  Rebel  infantry  was  on  the  march  northward.  At  noon,  a  ford 
over  a  creek  was  found  heavily  guarded,  and  the  stream  swollen. 
A  bridge  was  constructed,  by  felling  trees  in  the  stream  from  both 
banks,  lodging  the  tops  on  an  old  fish  rack  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream,  and  staking  them  fast,  and  piling  on  rails  for  a  floor- 
ing. The  Third  Kentucky  and  Third  Indiana  crossed  with 
horses,  and  the  Ninety-Second  crossed  dismounted.  When  the 
hill  bevond  the  stream  was  reached,  a  heavy  volley  greeted  the 
Third  Kentucky,  which  was  ordered  to  charge,  and  it  did  it 
splendidly,  driving  the  Rebels  about  two  miles,  where  they  were 
found  behind  strong  barricades.  The  Ninety-Second  was  held  in 
reserve.  The  Third  Kentucky  and  Third  Indiana  were  dis- 
mounted, and  the  enemy  driven  from  the  barricades.  Several 
dead  infantrymen  were  found.  Two  of  the  Rebel  infantry  were 
captured.  Finding  the  enemy  in  force,  that  portion  of  the  Bri- 
gade which  had  crossed  the  stream  recrossed,  the  movement 
being  covered  by  the  Ninety-Second,  and  the  enemy  following  in 
strong  force.  The  bridge  became  insecure,  and  the  skirmishers  of 
the  Ninety-Second  barely  crossed  it  before  it  gave  way,  and  the 
rails  floated  oft*  down  the  stream.  The  Division  marched  three 
miles  towards  Marietta,  and  bivouaced.  Moved  at  daylight, 
Atkins'  Brigade  leading,  and  the  Ninety-Second  in  the  advance, 
and  ran  into  the  enemy  at  Knowles'  Creek,  a  branch  of  the 
Sweetwater;  drove  them,  and  pushed  on  to  Powder  River,  near 
the  village  of  Powder  Springs.  The  bridge  was  gone,  and  the 
Rebels  opposite  were  stubborn.  The  Ninety-Second  men, with  their 
Spencer  Rifle';,  deployed  along  the  river,  and  moved  to  its  edge, 
giving  the  enemy  as  good  as  he  sent;  and  it  was  not  long  until 
the  men  of  the  Ninetv-Second  had  crossed  above  and  below  the. 
bridge,  and  drove  the  gray-coats. away.  A  bridge  -was  ha.stily  con-. 


i68  NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

structed,  and  the  Ninety-Second,  with  two  cavalry  regiments  and 
two  pieces  of  rifled  artillery,  were  crossed.  The  enemy  was 
pushed  from  the  brow  of  the  hill  beyond  the  stream,  when  the 
terrific  rain,  that  fell  in  sheets,  absolutely  put  a  stop  to  fighting. 
Beyond  an  open  field,  in  plain  sight,  in  the  edge  of  a  timber  belt, 
was  the  Rebel  line ;  but  both  parties  quietly  waited  for  a  slack  in 
the  torrent  of  rain.  The  Ninety-Second,  dismounted,  was  or- 
dered to  wait  until  two  shots  from  the  artillery  were  fired,  then 
charge  across  the  field.  Colonel  Atkins  put  the  artillery  into 
position  near  a  house,  and  again  tried  his  hand  at  sighting  the 
guns.  The  Lieutenant  of  artillery  told  him  that  the  shot  would 
hit  the  ground  in  front  of  the  enemy,  and  the  Colonel  replied : 
"  That  is  just  what  I  wish  to  do."  Around  this  house,  a  squad  of 
Rebels  had  been  stationed,  firing  at  our  men  on  the  other  side  of 
the  stream,  and  Kilpatrick  ordered  Lieutenant  Stetson  to  let  off 
his  guns  at  the  house.  Stetson  had  done  so,  and  his  shell  went 
through  and  through  it.  The  enemy  retreated.  When  Stetson 
came  up  to  the  house  with  his  guns,  he  went  in,  and  there  sat  a 
woman,  wounded  in  the  head  with  a  splinter,  and  in  her  lap  her 
little  child,  wounded  in  the  head,  also  with  a  piece  of  a  shell;  the 
poor  woman  was  so  frightened  that  she  was  speechless.  The 
brave  Lieutenant  was  unnerved,  and  declared  that  never  again 
should  a  shell  from  his  section  be  aimed  at  a  house,  unless  he 
first  knew  that  there  were  no  women  or  children  in  the  house. 

After  a  while,  the  rain  slackened — the  guns  flashed,  and  .the 
Ninety-Second  sprang  forward  to  the  charge;  the  enemy  fled. 
By  the  barricade  lay  several  of  the  enemy,  badly  wounded  by  the 
artillery,  the  shots  having  struck  the  ground,  richocheted,  and 
crashed  through  the  rails  of  which  the  barricade  was  constructed, 
spreading  death  in  their  path.  On  the  Regiment  pushed,  the 
enemy  falling  back,  but  keeping  up  a  continuous  fire.  The  Rebel 
artillery  sent  its  shell  screaming  down  the  road.  The  cavalry 
regiments  were  ordered  up.  Close  up  to  the  town  the  Ninety- 
Second  pushed,  when  word  came  back  that  they  were  close  onto 
long  lines  of  earthworks,  filled  with  gray-coats.  The  Colonel  or- 
dered the  Regiment  to  halt,  and  himself  dismounted,  and  advanced 
to  the  skirmish  line,  where  he  could  see  the  Rebel  line  of  earth- 
works around  the  town,  stretching  far  off  on  both  flanks.  Private 
Edward  S.  Rowe,  of  Company  K,  being  on  the  skirmish  line, 
dashed  forward,  calling  out,  "  Come  on,  Ninety-Second  boys,  we 
can  whip  them."  But  the  brave  fellow  was  killed  a  few  rods  in 
front  of  the  enemy's  line.  The  Regiment  was  ordered  to  main- 


NINETY -SECOND    ILLINOIS.  169 

tain  a  strong  line,  and  steadily  fall  back.  The  troops  slowly  re- 
tired to  the  crossing  over  Powder  River,  but  the  flood  had  carried 
the  bridge  away.  A  dozen  pieces  of  Rebel  artillery  were  drop- 
ping their  shell  where  the  bridge  had  been.  The  Ninety-Second, 
holding  the  rear,  was  skirmishing  heavily  with  the  enemy.  The 
little  command  could  not  cross,  and  it  could  not  whip  all  of  Hood's 
army,  and  it  could  not  long  remain  near  that  bridge,  for  the  enemy 
had  practiced  on  it  before,  and  knew  the  range,  and  were  dropping 
their  shell  in  the  midst  of  the  command  at  every  fire.  Above  the 
noise  of  the  bursting  shell,  the  screeching  voice  of  Kilpatrick,  on 
a  hill  on  the  other  side  of  the  stream,  was  heard,  as  he  shouted: 
"  Atkins,  oh  Atkins!  put  your  guns  on  the  hill  beyond  your  right 
flank,  and  draw  their  fire."  It  was  a  shrewd  Yankee  trick,  and 
proved  successful.  Stetson  was  ordered  to  take  up  position  on  a 
hill  beyond  the  right  flank  of  the  command,  and  throw  shell  at 
the  enemy  as  fast  as  he  could  work  his  guns.  He  did  so;  and 
soon  the  enemy,  as  Kilpatrick  expected  and  hoped  they  would, 
turned  their  guns  upon  Stetson,  and  there  the  brave  fellow  kept 
up  his  fire,  drawing  the  enemy's  fire,  while  the  bridge  was  rebuilt, 
and  the  command  recrossed  Powder  River.  We  had  demon- 
strated in  such  strong  force — the  Ninety-Second,  on  foot,  which 
the  enemy  undoubtedly  took  for  a  portion  of  Sherman's  infantry, 
two  regiments  of  cavalry,  and  a  section  of  artillery — that  it  is 
likely  that  the  enemy  had  no  thought  that  we  were  recrossing 
Powder  River,  but  presumed  we  werfe  still  deploying  our  troops 
to  attack  them ;  Stetson  moving  out  beyond  our  right  flank,  and 
keeping  up  his  artillery  fire,  was  an  evidence  of  it  to  them.  It  was 
fortunate  for  us,  for  had  the  enemy  moved  out  in  force  from  Pow- 
der Springs  before  the  bridge  was  rebuilt,  they  must  have  crushed 
all  on  that  side  of  the  stream.  Eight  men  in  the  Ninety-Second 
were  killed,  and  many  wounded.  Among  the  killed  in  the  Nine- 
ty-Second were:  William  F.  Campbell,  Company  B;  George 
Austin,  Company  D;  Thomas  J.  Aurand,  Companv  F;  James  P. 
Bloss  and  Edward  S.  Rowe,  of  Company  K.  A  large  house  was 
occupied  for  a  Brigade  hospital,  and  a  detail  made  to  bury  the 
dead.  As  was  the  custom,  the  Doctor  examined  the  dead  before 
burial,  and  found  that  private  Haggart,  of  Company  G,  who  had 
been  shot  in  the  head  by  a  musket  ball,  that  went  in  on  one  side 
of  his  head  and  out  on  the  other,  was  still  alive.  There  was  no 
room  for  him  in  the  hospital,  and  he  was  taken  into  the  Colonel's 
head-quarters,  in  one  of  the  negro  cabins,  and  a  handkerchiei 
drawn  through  the  wound,  under  the  skull.  His  limbs  were 
21 


tfo  MHfETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

rubbed,  and,  shortly,  he  opened  his  eyes.  Brandy  was  adminis- 
tered, and  in  an  hour  he  talked.  Within  a  month  he  was  again 
on  duty  with  his  company.  But  the  wound  cost  him  his  life  long 
after  the  close  of  the  war.  His  brain  became  inactive,  and  he 
gradually  sank  into  the  grave.  Marched  at  nine  A.  M.,  the  Nine- 
ty-Second in  rear  of  the  Division,  on  the  Marietta  Road;  when 
within  a  mile  of  Marietta,  the  command  turned  west,  and 
marched  beyond  Stone  Mountain  and  toward  Altoona  Pass;  at 
three  P.  M.,  countermarched,  and  camped  south  of  Marietta. 
Marched  early,  eight  or  ten  miles  to  a  cross-road,  west  of  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  and  found  Ross's  brigade  of  Confederate  cavalry  had 
just  passed;  the  command  scouted  the  roads  in  all  directions. 
Marched  toward  Powder  Springs,  and  bivouaced,  the  enemy  near 
us.  Lay  in  camp  on  the  sixth  of  October.  Marched  at  daylight, 
next  day,  and  found  the  Rebel  rear  guard  at  Powder  Springs  vil- 
lage; skirmished  all  day,  and  bivouaced  twenty-two  miles  south- 
west of  Marietta.  Marched  at  midnight,  toward  Lost  Mountain, 
eighteen  miles.  October  ninth,  drew  three  days'  rations,  turned 
out  weak  animals,  and  sent  them,  with  all  dismounted  men,  back 
to  the  wagon  trains.  On  the  tenth,  marched  at  daylight,  for  Van 
Wert,  and  ten  miles  out  ran  into  Rebel  cavalry,  and  easily  drove 
them  to  Van  Wert,  Atkins's  Brigade  leading.  At  the  edge  of  the 
village  of  Van  Wert,  the  enemy  had  taken  up  a  strong  position, 
with  a  long  stretch  of  open,  level  country  in  their  front.  As  the 
leading  regiment  debouched  from  the  hills,  the  enemy  opened 
with  artillery.  Our  battery,  stationed  on  a  knoll,  replied.  The 
Ninety-Second  was  dismounted,  and  placed  in  line  of  battle  on 
foot.  A  regiment  of  cavalry,  mounted,  was  on  the  right  flank, 
and  another  on  the  left.  At  a  walk,  the  three  regiments  in  line, 
moved  out;  then  the  cavalry  regiments  began  to  trot,  and  soon 
the  charge  was  sounded,  and  away  the  regiments  of  cavalry  went, 
the  Ninety-Second  moving  forward  on  foot,  in  line  of  battle,  at 
quick  time.  The  enemy  limbered  up  his  artillery  and  fled.  Ten 
prisoners  were  captured,  and  several  of  the  cavalrymen  killed  and 
wounded,  but  the  Ninety-Second  lost  none. 

We  learned  that  the  town  ot  Van  Wert  had  been  full  of  Rebel 
infantry  all  day,  Hood's  troops  passing  through.  At  dusk,  while 
the  Ninety-Second  Band  was  playing,  a  Rebel  band  struck  up 
"  Dixie,"  and  it  sounded  as  if  not  half  a  mile  distant.  It  was  in 
the  Rebel  infantry  camp,  west  of  Van  Wert,  on  the  Cedartown 
Road.  From  the  hill  near  Van  Wert,  the  camp-fires  of  the 
enemy,  .stretching  miles  away,  could  be  seen.  Our  troops  set  up 


NINBTT-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  171 

a  cheer,  and  it  was  promptly  answered  in  the  Rebel  camps. 
During  the  night,  the  enemy  were  feeling  our  pickets,  on  all 
the  roads,  and  it  was  rumored  that  we  were  surrounded,  and  an 
attack  was  expected  at  daylight.  At  three  A.  M.,  of  the  eleventh, 
the  whole  Division  was  in  line  behind  barricades,  but  no  attack 
was  made  on  us.  About  noon,  Companies  A,  E,  and  I,  dis- 
mounted, charged  the  Rebel  picket,  about  a  mile  west  of  Van 
Wert,  at  Raccoon  Creek,  and  drove  them  easily,  and  mounted 
men  followed  them  several  miles,  on  the  Cedartown  Road. 
Marched  at  eleven  A.  M.,  on  the  twelfth,  on  the  road  toward 
Rome.  There  was  some  skirmishing  by  the  Division,  but  the 
Ninety-Second  was  not  engaged,  being  in  the  advance,  and  the 
skirmishing  taking  place  in  rear  and  on  the  left  of  the  column. 
It  is  more  disagreeable  to  march  and  hear  occasional  skirmishing, 
and  not  be  near  enough  to  see  and  know  what  is  going  on,  than 
to  be  right  under  the  enemy's  fire.  Marched  twelve  miles. 
Company  A,  on  picket,  was  ordered  to  send  a  squad  of  men 
around  the  Rebel  picket  post,  and  two  miles  in  its  rear,  to  the 
house  of  an  old  man  whom  General  Kilpatrick  wished  to  talk 
with,  to  obtain  information  of  the  enemy's  movements.  The 
boys  of  Company  A  moved  around  the  Rebel  picket,  and  on  to 
the  house;  found  the  old  man  at  home,  and  brought  him  around 
the  Rebel  picket,  and  took  him  to  Kilpatrick's  head-quarters. 
Marched  at  daylight,  on  the  thirteenth,  toward  Rome.  Soon 
struck  the  Rebel  picket;  and  the  Eighth  Indiana,  under  command 
of  Colonel  Jones,  a  dashing  officer,  and  he  had  a  dashing  regi- 
ment, charged  them,  and  drove  them  handsomely,  capturing 
several  prisoners,  and  many  carbines  that  the  enemy  had  thrown 
away  in  their  flight.  Halted  two  miles  south  of  Rome,  Georgia, 
on  Silver  Creek,  and  fed ;  had  horses  inspected,  and  weak  ones 
sent  to  Rome ;  when  the  Ninety-Second  returned  to  the  Alabama 
Road,  and  followed  the  enemy,  over  the  range  of  hills,  to  the 
Cave  Spring  Road,  where  Sherman's  infantry  was  found  in  con- 
siderable force,  when  the  Ninety-Second  returned  to  Silver 
Creek,  and  camped.  Forage  in  abundance.  The  country  imme- 
diately south  of  Rome  is  very  beautiful.  A  large  mansion  stood 
by  the  road-side,  near  the  creek;  and  a  Yankee  wag,  who  man- 
aged to  get  into  conversation  with  the  Southern  ladies  living 
there,  complimented  the  country  highly,  and  especially  that  par- 
ticular farm ;  inquired  how  many  acres  there  were  in  it,  and  had 
them  point  out  the  corners,  and  where  the  lines  ran  around 
the  farm ;  then  the  Yankee  sedately  drove  a  stake  into  the  g-round. 


I7»  N2NETT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

Of  course,  the  ladies  inquired  what  he  was  doing  that  for,  when 
the  Yankee  said :  "  Every  Yankee  soldier  is  to  have  a  farm  in 
the  South  after  the  war  is  over,  and  can  pick  it  out  himself;  and  I 
have  concluded  to  take  this  one  for  mine,  and  am  driving  my 
stake  as  the  evidence  of  my  having  decided  to  take  it."  The 
lively  manner  in  which  those  ladies  went  for  that  sedate  Yankee 
with  their  sharp  tongues,  was  amusing,  and  was  just  what  the 
Yankee  enjoyed  hearing.  The  boys  would  stir  up  the  female 
Rebels,  just  to  hear  them  talk,  like  the  boys  at  the  menagerie  stir 
up  the  lions  to  hear  them  roar.  Marched  early  on  the  fourteenth, 
turning  our  taces  back  toward  Atlanta.  We  did  not  know  what 
it  meant  to  let  Hood  go  marching  north,  and  ourselves  turn  around 
and  march  away  from  him;  but  we  had  confidence  that  Sherman 
knew  what  it  meant,  and  we  cheerfully  obeyed  orders.  The  Regi- 
ment passed  for  miles  through  the  finest  pine  timber  seen  in  the 
South,  and  camped  on  the  Euharlie  Creek,  a  clear,  sparkling, 
swift,  rocky-bottom  stream,  where  the  Regiment  lay  in  camp  the 
next  day,  sending  scouting  parties  to  Van  Wert  and  Villa  Rica. 

At  one  P.  M.,  of  the  sixteenth,  the  command  marched  to 
Burnt  Hickory,  and  camped  after  dark;  the  enemy  on  all  the 
roads,  forage  scarce,  and  not  safe  for  less  than  twenty  or  thirty  to 
go  out  foraging.  Burnt  Hickory  is  like  most  of  the  towns  in  the 
South,  found  on  the  map — a  cross-roads  post-office,  only  one 
old  log  house.  Many  years  before,  considerable  gold  had  been 
found  in  the  vicinity.  Captain  Schermerhorn,  of  Company  G, 
on  the  morning  of  the  seventeenth,  took  a  wash-pan,  and  went 
down  to  the  spring,  and,  washing  out  a  single  pan  of  earth,  he 
procured  several  beautiful  specimens  of  gold,  one  specimen  as 
large  as  a  bird  shot.  Schermerhorn  was  an  old  California  miner, 
and  said  it  would  prove  rich  diggings,  if  every  pan  of  earth  would 
turn  out  as  well.  Moved  at  one  P.  M.,  and  camped  on  Raccoon 
Creek,  near  Stitesboro.  Forage  was  plenty  along  the  creek.  On 
the  eighteenth,  Major  Woodcock  returned,  and  assumed  com- 
mand of  the  Regiment.  Lay  in  camp  all  day.  Sent  a  detail  to 
Van  Wert  in  the  night,  with  orders  to  go  into  the  town  rapidly  at 
daylight,  and  capture  any  Rebels  they  might  find  there;  and  the 
detail  captured  two  Rebel  infantrymen,  and  brought  them  to 
camp.  Marched,  at  eleven  A.  M.,  through  Burnt  Hickory,  and 
camped  at  Dallas,  marching  thirty  miles.  Marched  early,  Ninety- 
Second  in  advance,  and  skirmished  lightly  with  the  enemy.  Sent 
scouting  parties  in  all  directions;  a  scouting  party,  from  Company 
B,  captured  three  Rebels,  on  the  Villa  Rica  Road.  A  party,  from 


NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  173 

Company  A,  went  to  Flint  Hill  Church,  and  learned  that  Ross's 
Rebel  brigade  had  crossed  there  the  night  previous.  On  the  twon- 
ty-first,  the  Regiment  marched  early,  through  Dallas  and  near  to 
Stitesboro,  and  camped  on  the  Van  Wert  Road.  Captain  Scher- 
merhorn,  of  Company  G,  with  a  detail  of  thirty  men,  went  to 
Van  Wert,  but  found  only  a  few  scouts  of  the  Rebel  cavalry. 
Lay  in  camp,  on  Widow  Folk's  plantation,  until  the  twenty- 
seventh,  no  organized  force  of  the  Rebels  near  us,  but  the  woods 
full  of  scouting  parties,  familiar  with  ever  by-path,  and  all  the 
citizens  ready  to  give  them  any  information;  concealed  in  the 
woods,  within  gun-shot  of  the  road,  they  would  fire  a  volley,  and 
then  scatter  and  elude  us.  On  the  twenty-fifth,  the  boys  cornered 
a  squad,  and  captured  them,  and  also  their  horses.  On  the  twenty- 
sixth,  a  Rebel  crawled  close  up  to  Adam  Countryman,  of  Com- 
pany'F,  and  killed  him  at  the  first  fire,  while  acting  as  a  vidette 
picket  within  a  short  distance  of  Brigade  head-quarters.  Two 
other  posts  were  attacked.  Command  saddled  up,  but  not  a 
Rebel  could  be  seen.  Marched,  early  on  the  twenty-seventh, 
through  Burnt  Hickory,  and  across  the  Pumpkinvine  Creek,  and 
bivouaced.  Marched  early  to  Marietta,  and  went  into  camp,  with 
transportation  and  tents.  Forage  was  scarce,  and  heavy  details, 
with  wagons,  went  twenty  miles  for  corn,  and  skirmished  with 
the  Rebel  scouting  parties.  On  the  thirtieth  of  October,  Captain 
Matthew  Van  Buskirk,  of  Company  E,  having  been  promoted  to 
Lieutenant  Colonel,  took  command  of  the  Ninety-Second. 
Forage  and  rations  were  received  by  rail,  and  hundreds  of  horses 
were  turned  over  to  Kilpatrick's  cavalry,  which  was  all  the 
mounted  force  that  was  to  accompany  Sherman,  on  his  March  to 
the  Sea.  The  horses  were  very  poor,  sore-backed,  and  scarcely 
able  to  carry  an  empty  saddle; but  Kilpatrick  said:  "Take  them, 
boys,  and  you'll  have  a  chance  to  trade  horses  with  some  rich  old 
planter  in  a  few  days."  The  time  was  spent  in  fitting  up  the 
command  for  a  long  campaign. 

On  November  fourth,  the  Division  was  reorganized,  the  Nine- 
ty-Second being  in  the  Second  Brigade  of  Kilpatrick's  cavalry, 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Van  Buskirk  commanding  the  Regiment,  and 
Colonel  Atkins  the  Brigade.  The  following  officers,  belonging  to 
the  Ninety-Second,  were  detailed  for  staff  duty  on  the  staff  of 
Colonel  Atkins,  the  Brigade  Commander:  Captain  Horace  J. 
Smith,  of  Company  B,  Acting  Assistant  Adjutant  General  of  the 
Brigade;  Captain  J.  L.  Spear,  of  Company  E,  Acting  Commis- 
sary of  Subsistence  of  the  Brigade;  Lieutenant  C.  B.  Bowles,  of 


174  NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

Company  H,  Acting  Quartermaster  of  the  Brigade ;  Lieutenant 
George  R.  Skinner,  of  Company  D,  Acting  Inspector  General  ot 
the  Brigade.  They  were  brave,  faithful  and  competent  officers, 
and  Colonel  Atkins  frequently  expressed  himself  as  greatly  in- 
debted to  them  for  the  harmony  and  efficiency  of  his  command. 
Lieutenant  Norman  Lewis,  of  Company  C,  was  detailed  for  staff" 
duty  on  the  staff  of  General  Kilpatrick,  and  acted  as  Division 
Ordnance  Officer;  and  he  never  failed  to  have  the  Division  prop- 
erly supplied  with  arms  and  ammunition.  On  the  fifth,  the  Reg- 
iment was  inspected  and  paid.  A  vote  in  the  Regiment  showed 
the  Ninety-Second  almost  unanimous  for  the  re-election  of  Lin- 
coln ;  it  was  useless — Illinois  soldiers  at  the  front  had  no  voice  in 
the  election  of  the  President.  Captain  Taggart,  of  the  Ninety- 
Third  Illinois,  visited  his  acquaintances  in  the  Ninety-Second. 
On  the  sixth,  it  was  cold  and  rainy,  and  the  Chaplain  held  service 
in  the  large  house  used  as  Regimental  and  Brigade  head-quarters- 
On  the  tenth,  the  men  were  told  to  write  letters  home,  for  that 
night  would  leave  the  last  mail  northward ;  the  troops  were  al- 
ready tearing  up  and  utterly  destroying  the  railroad  south  of  Mari- 
etta. On  the  eleventh,  eight  bushwhackers,  or  Rebel  scouts,  were 
cornered  and  captured.  In  the  evening,  General  Kilpatrick  gave 
a  party  to  the  officers  of  his  Division.  On  the  twelfth,  the  last 
train  of  cars  left  Marietta,  for  the  North,  at  noon,  and  the  railroad 
was  at  once  torn  up,  and  the  rails  heated  in  the  center  and  twisted 
around  the  telegraph  poles  and  shade  trees.  The  Military  Insti- 
tute, just  south  of  Marietta,  was  burned  up.  It  was  expected  the 
command  would  march  on  the  morning  of  the  thirteenth,  and  the 
boys,  bound  to  burn  up  everything,  burned  their  bunks  and  camp 
trumpery;  but  the  order  was  countermanded,  and  the  men  again 
pitched  tents.  At  eleven  A.  M.,  the  Cavalry  Division  of  General 
Kilpatrick  was  reviewed  in  the  open  fields  north  of  Marietta,  by 
General  Sherman.  Black  clouds  of  smoke  rolled  upward  from  the 
burning  town,  and  General  Sherman,  looking  at  it,  said:  "  Kil- 
patrick, somebody  is  burning  up  that  town."  Kilpatrick  gazed  at 
the  rising  columns  of  smoke,  and  replied :  "  Oh,  no,  General, 
there  are  only  a  fev.'  fires."  Long  columns  of  infantry  were 
streaming  southward  all  the  afternoon.  On  the  morning  of  the 
fourteenth  of  November,  1864,  began  the  grand  march  from  the 
mountains  to  the  sea.  The  Ninety-Second  was  in  the  saddle 
promptly,  and  moved  out  at  seven  A.  M.,  on  the  Sandtown  Road, 
the  town  of  Marietta  still  burning — at  once  the  commencement 
and-  the  symbol  of  the  destruction  the  army  was  destined  to  leave 


NINETT-SECOPTD    ILLINOIS.  175 

in  its  track  on  its  long  march.  The  Regiment  crossed  the  Ghat- 
tahoochee,  on  the  pontoons,  five  miles  below  Vinings,  and  biv- 
ouaced  three  miles  south-west  of  Atlanta.  There  was  some 
amusement  in  Company  A  over  a  stubborn  donkey  that  Lieuten- 
ant Cox  was  attempting  to  make  a  pack  animal  of.  Cox  became 
disgusted,  and  court-martialed  the  contrary  donkey,  and  dismissed 
him  from  the  service  in  disgrace.  Marched  at  seven  A.  M.,  mak- 
ing twenty  miles,  and  camping  three  miles  north-west  of  Jones- 
boro.  The  Colonel  sent  two  companies  into  Jonesboro,  that  cap- 
tured a  squad  of  prisoners,  several  horses,  considerable  corn,  and 
camp  equipage  of  the  enemy.  Marched  at  sunrise,  through  Jones- 
boro, and  all  of  the  town  not  before  destroyed  by  fire  was  burned 
up,  except  a  house  at  the  south  part  of  the  town,  where  several 
ladies  sat  upon  the  porch,  looking  at  the  troops  march  by.  Against 
the  side  of  the  house  they  had  pinned  up  a  Free  Mason's  apron, 
and  its  talismanic  power  protected  the  house  and  the  property 
surrounding  it.  At  Lovejoy's,  the  First  Brigade,  which  was  lead- 
ing, charged  the  Rebels  behind  the  old  Rebel  earthworks  erected 
by  Hood's  anmy,  just  previous  to  the  fall  of  Atlanta,  making  a 
brilliant  charge,  and  capturing  two  pieces  of  artillery.  The  Sec- 
ond Brigade  then  took  the  advance,  and  five  miles  below  Love- 
joy's  ran  into  the  Rebels  again,  and  the  Tenth  Ohio  charged 
them,  capturing  thirty  privates  and  three  Rebel  officers.  .  The 
command  moved  a  few  miles  eastward,  and  camped.  Marched  at 
seven  A.  M.,  through  a  beautiful  country ;  the  citizens  said  that  a 
brigade  of  Rebel  cavalry  was  ahead  of  us,  but  they  did  not  contest 
the  road  with  us.  The  enemy  was  said  to  be  concentrating  at 
Macon.  Many  horses  and  mules  were  brought  in  by  the  scouting 
parties.  Marched  at  seven  A.  M.;  fed  at  Newmarket  at  noon, 
and  took  two  hours'  rest.  Marched  to  Ocmulgee  Mills,  and 
camped  at  nine  P.  M.  On  the  nineteenth  of  October,  marched  at 
one  A.  M.;  raining  hard,  and  as  dark  as  a  pocket;  crossed  the  Oc- 
mulgee on  the  pontoons,  at  Planters'  Factory,  where  two  hun- 
dred girls  were  employed  making  cotton  cloth  for  the  Rebel  army. 
Great  fires  were  kept  blazing  on  both  banks  of  the  river  to  light 
up  the  bridge.  The  light  was  so  bright  that  it  reflected  the  fac- 
tory, and  trees  upon  the  banks,  and  the  crossing  columns  of  troops 
in  the  water  as  clearly  and  distinctly  as  if  the  river  had  been  a 
mirror. 

Possibly  some  of  our  readers  would  like  to  know  what  a 
pontoon  is.  Imagine  a  frame-work  of  a  little  boat,  made  very 
lightly,  with  narrow  strips  of  well  seasoned  .timber,  the  boat  about 


176  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

three  feet  deep,  twelve  feet  long,  and  four  feet  wide ;  under  and 
over  the  sides  and  ends  of  this  light  frame-work  is  stretched 
heavy  duck  canvas,  or  sail  cloth,  forming  the  bottom  and  sides  of 
the  boat.  That  is  a  pontoon  boat.  Placed  in  a  line  across  a 
river  side  by  side,  the  boats  held  in  their  places  by  an  anchor  for 
each  boat  cast  in  the  river  some  distance  above  the  line  of  boats, 
and  along  from  boat  to  boat  placed  stringers  of  light  timber,  and 
over  them  a  floor  of  light  pine  boards,  and  that  is  a  pontoon 
bridge.  Ready  workmen  will  lay  one  in  an  hour  across  a  river 
hundreds  of  feet  wide.  The  cavalrj'  cross  two  by  two,  each 
trooper  dismounted  and  leading  his  horse.  The  artillery,  eight 
horses  to  a  gun,  sink  the  boats  to  within  a  few  inches  of  the  top, 
the  bridge  rising  behind  the  gun  as  it  goes  from  boat  to  boat. 
Those  not  familiar  with  them  might  think  the  frail  little  boats  of 
cloth  not  strong  enough ;  but  all  of  Sherman's  army  crossed,  upon 
them,  all  the  great  rivers  on  the  long  march.  As  soon  as  the 
troops  are  over,  the  bridge  is  taken  up,  the  boards  and  wood-work 
carefully  packed  on  wagons,  the  canvas  cloth  dried  by  huge  fires, 
rolled  up,  and  transported  to  the  next  river. 

Ocmulgee  Mills  and  Planters'  Factory  were,  of  course,  con- 
sumed by  fire.  Sherman  had  no  use  for  the  factory  or  mills,  and 
did  not  wish  the  one  to  continue  making  cloth  to  clothe  the  Reb- 
els, or  the  other  to  grind  grain  to  feed  them.  After  crossing  the 
Ocmulgee,  the  command  marched  ten  miles,  passing  to  the  ad- 
vance of  the  infantry,  fed  animals  and  cooked  breakfast.  Kilpat- 
rick,  with  the  First  Brigade,  moved  to  Clinton,  by  the  river  road; 
Atkins's  Brigade  marched  on  a  circle,  passing  through  Monte- 
cello  and  Hillsboro,  making  forty  miles,  over  very  bad  roads,  and 
reached  Clinton  after  dark,  where  six  Rebels  were  captured,  and 
a  quantity  of  Rebel  stores,  and  plenty  of  forage  for  the  animals, 
already  in  sacks  for  shipment  to  the  Rebel  army.  About  eleven 
A.  M.,  on  the  twentieth,  moved  toward  Macon,  Atkins's  Brigade 
leading,  the  Ninety-Second  holding  the  advance.  The  Rebel 
pickets  were  soon  struck,  and,  about  three  miles  out,  the  enemy 
was  found  in  considerable  force,  being  Crews's  brigade  of  Rebel 
cavalry.  Captain  Becker,  of  Company  J,  with  a  battalion,  dis- 
mounted, passed  through  the  woods  to  within  a  short  distance  of 
the  enemy.  The  Rebels  were  preparing  to  charge,  and  a  cavalry 
regiment  galloped  "  forward  into  line"  to  meet  it;  but  the  charg- 
ing column  of  Rebels  did  not  come  far.  Starting  with  a  yell,  the 
Rebels  rushed  out  of  their  rail  barricade,  and  came  toward  Cap- 
tain Becker,  with  his  battalion  of  Spencers  concealed  in  the  brush. 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  177 

when  the  Captain  ordered  the  boys  to  fire,  and  the  head  of  the 
Rebel  column  was  surprised  and  halted;  and  it  was  now  our  turn 
to  charge,  and  the  Tenth  Ohio  Cavalry  started  for  the  enemy  with 
a  shout  and  flashing  sabres;  and  then  (he  entire  brigade  of  gray- 
coats,  like  frightened  birds,  scattered,  in  confusion,  through  the 
woods  and  fields,  in  terror  and  dismay.  Five  dead  Confederates, 
and  six  wounded  ones,  were  the  effect  of  Captain  Becker's  Spen- 
cer Rifles.  The  command  did  not  scatter  out  to  follow  after 
Crews's  brigade,  which  had  separated  like  a  flushed  covy  of  par- 
tridges, ever}'  one  for  himself,  but  kept  on  down  the  road  toward 
Macon,  no  enemy  impeding,  until  the  railroad  and  Walnut  Creek 
were  reached,  two  miles  east  of  Macon,  where  a  Rebel  picket  was 
found.  The  Ninety-Second  was  dismounted,  and  drove  the 
enemy  from  the  creek,  and  crossed  over,  and  up  the  hill,  driving 
the  enemy  from  the  hill  beyond.  Our  artillery  opened,  and  the 
Rebel  artillery  immediately  responded.  The  Tenth  Ohio  Cavalry 
was  ordered  to  charge  again,  and  did  so,  and  drove  Howell  Cobb's 
division  of  Georgia  militia  from  their  line  of  earthen  breastworks, 
and,  for  a  few  moments,  the  Tenth  Ohio  held  the  Rebel  line,  and 
nine  pieces  of  artillery  the  enemy  had  abandoned;  but,  behind 
the  Georgia  militia,  protected  by  another  line  of  earthworks,  were 
older  and  steadier  troops,  who  advanced  on  the  Tenth  Ohio,  and 
that  regiment  fell  back  and  crossed  the  creek,  the  Ninety-Second 
covering  the  movement.  The  balance  of  the  Divison  was  on  the 
railroad,  tearing  up  the  track,  and  the  Ninety-Second  held  the 
enemy  until  dark,  and  until  the  Division  had  withdrawn  on  the 
Clinton  Road,  when  the  Regiment  also  fell  back  two  miles,  and 
bivouaced,  still  holding  the  front.  The  cavalry  had  demonstrated 
so  strongly  upon  Macon,  that  the  enemy  was  effectually  deceived, 
and  massed  all  his  cavalry  and  available  forces,  to  guard  that 
point,  and  the  cutting  of  the  railroad  east  of  Macon  gave  Sher- 
man's columns  an  open  road,  uninterrupted  by  any  of  the  enemy's 
troops,  as  Sherman's  army  swung  off  to  the  south-east,  toward 
Louisville,  Georgia.  Many  of  our  troops  were  wounded,  espe- 
cially by  the  Rebel  shell,  for  their  nine  pieces  of  artillery  kept  up 
an  incessant  fire  until  dark,  our  guns  replying.  The  poor 
wounded  men  were  loaded  into  the  ambulances. 

In  this  march  we  had  no  hospitals,  in  the  rear,  where  our 
wounded  might  bo  sent;  no  supplies  and  nurses  from  the  Sani- 
tary Commission  were  available ;  no  furloughs  could  be  granted 
to  the  wounded  to  return  home  for  treatment — they  had  to  remain 
with  us,  and  day  by  day  the  heavily-loaded  ambulances  wound 
23 


178  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

along  the  rough  roads  as  the  column  marched.  A  large  house 
was  taken  as  a  hospital  for  the  night,  where  the  surgeons  per- 
formed many  amputations.  It  had  rained  hard  all  the  afternoon, 
and  the  rain  continued  all  night.  During  the  night,  the  Brigade 
was  ordered  to  fall  back  to  the  Clinton  and  Macon  and  Milledge- 
ville  and  Macon  cross-roads,  and  barricade  and  hold  that  point, 
while  the  army  made  the  turn  and  the  infantry  wagon  trains 
passed.  The  Ninety-Second  was  ordered  to  erect  strong  barri- 
cades, and  hold  the  enemy  until  the  other  regiments  and  battery 
had  reached  the  new  point,  and  were  ready  for  attack.  After  the 
Brigade  was  in  position,  orders  were  sent  to  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Van  Buskirk,  commanding  the  Ninety-Second,  to  withdraw.  He 
was  a  vigilant  and  gallant  soldier,  and  knew  when  to  act- upon  his 
own  responsibility,  and  he  replied  that  the  enemy  had  been  feel- 
ing his  position  very  strongly,  and  he  thought  they  would  soon 
attack  him  in  force,  and  he  wished  to  give  the  enemy  a  repulse 
before  he  withdrew.  In  a  short  time,  the  enemy  came  on  in 
force,  charging  the  Ninety-Second.  Captain  Lyman  Preston,  of 
Company  D,  and  Captain  William  B.Mayer,  of  Company  F,  with 
their  companies,  were  out  in  front  of  the  barricade  on  picket,  and 
so  sudden  and  determined  was  the  attack  of  the  enemy,  tb,at  the 
officers  and  men  of  those  companies  had  not  time  to  get  inside  of 
the  barricade,  but  threw  themselves  down  close  to  it  on  the 
outside,  while  the  Regiment  fired  over  them  from  behind  the 
barricade.  The  overcoat  capes  of  many  of  the  boys  on  the  out- 
side of  the  barricade  showed  marks  of  the  enemy's  sabres.  It  is 
worthy  of  remark,  that  this  was  the  first  time  that  the  Ninety- 
Second  pickets  were  ever  driven  in.  The  enemy  charged  in  three 
columns,  at  the  sound  of  the  bugle;  one  regiment  of  the  enemy 
dismounted,  swung  around  the  left  flank  of  the  Ninety-Second,  so 
as  to  give  a  fire  from  the  rear;  and  two  heavy  cavalry  columns, 
one  down  the  main  road  directlv  in  front  of  the  barricade,  and 
one  down  an  old  road,  on  the  right  flank  of  the  Regiment.  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Van  Buskirk,  a  cool,  brave  officer,  urged  the  men 
to  keep  quiet,  and  let  the  enemy  come  on.  And  on  they  came, 
until  the  Ninety-Second  had  their  two  mounted  columns  in  good 
range,  when  the  Regiment  opened  a  cool,  steady  and  terrible  fire 
with  their  Spencer  decimating  Repeating  Rifles.  No  enemy  ever 
did  live  long  within  range  of  those  guns,  in  the  hands  of  the 
Ninety-Second  men ;  and  that  enemy,  although  he  had  carefully 
prepared  his  plans,  and  felt  sure  of  his  game,  could  not,  and 
did  not,  long  withstand  the  quickly  successive  volleys  poured 


NlNEfT-SECOND  ILLIXOI&.  179 

into  him  by  the  Regiment.  With  heavy  loss,  after  bravely  fight- 
ing, and  coming  close  up  to  the  barricade,  the  two  columns  of 
Rebel  cavalry  fell  back  in  confusion;  and  then  the  Ninety-Second 
gave  its  attention  to  the  regiment  of  dismounted  Rebels,  who  had 
passed  into  the  rear,  expecting  to  gobble  up  the  Ninety-Second 
when  their  cavalry  columns  had  put  it  to  flight.  But  the  Rebel 
programme  did  not  work;  it  was  not  the  Ninety-Second,  but  the 
Rebel  cavalry,  which  had  been  put  to  flight,  and  the  dismounted 
Rebels  were  themselves  in  danger  of  being  gobbled  up;  but  they 
made  double-quick  time  out  of  the  range  of  those  terrible  repeat- 
ing rifles,  so  coolly  and  bravely  handled  by  the  Ninety-Second 
men.  A  Rebel  prisoner,  afterward  captured,  reported  the  Rebel 
loss  in  this  repulse  to  be  sixty-five  killed  and  wounded.  And 
then  the  Regiment  slowly  and  leisurely  fell  back  to  the  Brigade ; 
but  so  complete  had  been  the  repulse  of  the  enemy,  that  he  did 
not  follow.  All  day  and  all  night,  while  the  infantry  and  wagon 
trains  went  by,  Atkins's  Brigade  lay  guarding  the  "elbow,"  as  the 
army  swung  around,  and  not  a  wheel  of  all  the  vast  transporta- 
tion trains  of  Sherman's  army  was  injured.  The  enemy  felt 
lightly  the  picket  lines,  but  made  no  attack;  the  repulse  the 
Ninety-Second  had  given  them  made  them  exceedingly  careful 
and  cautious.  The  Brigade  moved  early  next  day,  and  lay  in  rear 
of  the  infantry,  while  Wolcott  repulsed  a  severe  attack  of  Howell 
Cobb's  troops,  who  had  come  out  ot  Macon  and  attacked  Wolcott 
desperately  in  his  entrenchments.  Marched  three  miles,  on  No- 
vember twenty-third,  and  camped  amidst  plenty  of  forage. 

During  this  march,  Sherman's  troops  lived  almost  entirely 
upon  the  country,  subsisting  both  animals  and  men  upon  the 
forage  and  provisions  gathered  up  as  the  army  marched.  Heavy 
details  were  made  daily,  to  gather  provisions,  who  would  gene- 
rally return  at  night,  well  loaded  down  with  ducks,  geese,  hams, 
bacon,  sweet  potatoes,  turkeys,  chickens,  eggs,  and  everything 
the  country  afforded.  Some  of  the  men  so  detailed,  loved  the 
adventure,  and,  not  returning  to  camp,  kept  along  in  advance  of 
the  columns,  and  they  soon  became  to  be  known  as  "  Sherman's 
bummers."  Bummers  they  were,  brave  to  recklessness;  and, 
while  insensible  to  discipline,  they  were  by  no  means  wholly  bad. 
Thev  were  constantly  furnishing  valuable  information,  and,  like 
all  the  army,  burned  up  everything  they  could  iind  that  fire  would 
consume.  The  twenty-third  was  very  cold,  so  cold  that  ice  was 
formed  on  the  pools  of  water.  A  soldier,  in  his  diary  under  this 
date,  writes :  "  Cold  to-day  ;  but,  with  all  the  exposure,  the  men 


i8o  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

do  not  take  cold;  you  will  scarcely  hear  a  man  in  the  Division 
cough,  although  they  sleep  in  the  open  air,  with  no  shelter  at  all, 
unless  it  rains,  and  then  their  shelters  are  rudely  and  imperfectly 
constructed,  and  the  soldiers  nearly  always  get  wet." 

On  the  morning  of  November  twenty-fourth,  1864,  the  Cav- 
alry Division  marched  early,  crossing  from  the  right  to  the  left 
flank  of  the  army.  The  danger  was  now  to  be  apprehended  from 
the  left  flank,  and  it  might  be  possible  that  troops  from  Rich- 
mond would  make  some  demonstration  against  Sherman's 
columns.  The  cavalry  had  deceived  the  enemy,  by  demonstrat- 
ing strongly  against  Forsyth  and  Macon  on  the  right  flank,  and 
it  must  now  deceive  him  again,  by  demonstrating  strongly  on 
Augusta,  on  the  left  flank.  There  was  also  another  object  in 
view— to  rescue,  if  possible,  the  Union  soldiers  confined  in  the 
Rebel  prison  pen  at  Millen.  The  head  of  the  Division  reached 
Milledgeville  at  noon.  Kilpatrick  had  supposed  that  he  would  be 
first  into  the  capital  of  Georgia;  but  the  irrepressible  "bummers" 
had  occupied  the  capital  for  two  days.  When  the  "  bummers" 
approached  Milledgeville,  the  Legislature  was  in  session,  and 
such  a  skedaddling  was  never  before  seen.  The  members  left  on 
French  leave,  leaving  their  books,  papers,  and  documents  lying 
on  the  tables  in  the  halls  of  the  House  and  Senate,  and  the  "bum- 
mers" entered,  passed  a  resolution  declaring  themselves  members 
of  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  organized  by  electing  a  Speaker 
and  Clerk  for  both  branches  of  the  Legislature,  and  then  they 
passed  a  bill  repealing  the  Ordinance  of  Secession,  and  bringing 
Georgia  back  again  into  the  Union !  A  jolly  crowd  were  the 
"bummers."  The  command  passed  through  Milledgeville,  a 
dilapidated  old  town,  like  nearly  all  of  the  towns  in  the  South, 
with  every  sign  of  dry  rot  and  decay,  and  with  no  signs  of  life  or 
energy.  It  looked  as  if  it  had  been  in  a  Rip  Van  Winkle  sleep 
for  a  century.  Five  miles  east  of  Milledgeville,  the  command 
crossed  the  Oconee  River,  and  bivouaced  at  twelve  o'clock  at 
night. 

On  the  twenty-fifth,  marched  at  sunrise.  The  men  of  the 
Ninety-Second  declared  that,  after  getting  into  camp  at  twelve 
o'clock  at  night,  being  "  blowed  up"  by  those  noisy  bugles,  an 
hour  before  daylight  next  morning,  was  worse  than  being 
"  blowed  up"  by  the  "  old  man"  at  home.  But  the  bugles  rang 
out  beautifully,  clear  as  bells,  first  from  Division  head-quarters, 
quickly  repeated  at  Brigade  head-quarters,  and  quickly  again  at 
the  head-quarters  of  the  regiments,  and  still  again  at  the  head- 


NINBTT'SRCOND  ILLINOIS.  t8t 

quarters  of  the  companies,  until  all  was  ringing  merrily  with  the 
bugle  notes;  and  then  the  fires  began  to  gleam  everywhere,  like 
the  gas-lights  of  a  great  city — ah!  there  was  much  of  the  beauti- 
ful in  the  life  of  a  soldier,  but  the  soldiers  themselves  had  but 
little  time  to  enjoy  it.  It  was  a  beautiful  day,  and,  with  no  enemy 
in  front  or  rear,  the  command  marched  rapidly.  Heavy  details 
were  made  to  hunt  for  horses.  Hundreds  of  the  finest  animals 
had  been  taken  to  the  swamps  and  hid.  The  negroes,  always  our 
faithful  allies  and  friends — among  the  faithless  always  faithful — 
gave  our  parties  the  minutest  information  of  the  hiding-places  of 
the  horses,  and  hundreds  of  animals  were  found.  The  men 
would  find  them  hitched  in  the  woods,  far  away  from  any  house; 
locked  up  in  the  smoke-houses;  carefully  hid  away  in  the  cellars; 
and,  in  more  than  one  instance,  the  favorite  family  nags  and  valua- 
ble saddle  horses  had  been  led  into  the  parlors,  and  matron  and 
maiden  would  tearfully  beg  that  their  houses  might  not  be  ran- 
sacked. But  a  Ninety-Second  man  could  scent  a  fine  horse  a 
long  way  off,  especially  if  he  could  have  a  conversation  with 
Uncle  Bob  in  the  yard,  or  Dinah  in  the  kitchen,  and  locks  on  sta- 
ble, smoke-house,  cellar  or  parlor  door,  did  not  long  keep  him 
from  the  coveted  prize.  The  only  trouble  was  that  the  captured 
animals  were  soft  from  the  want  of  service,  and  without  shoes, 
and  could  not  well  endure  the  fatigue  of  the  march.  The  com- 
mand traveled  about  thirty-five  miles,  and  camped  amidst  plenty. 
Marched  early  on  the  twenty-sixth.  Captain  Day,  of  the  Tenth 
Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry,  serving  on  General  Kilpatrick's  staff, 
with  a  special  detail,  moved  before  daylight,  and,  by  a  brilliant 
dash,  completely  surprised  the  Rebels  guarding  the  large  bridge 
over  the  Ogeechee,  at  Ogeechee  Shoals,  and  saved  the  bridge.  It 
was  most  gallantly  done,  and  Captain  Day  deserved  great  credit. 
The  mills  and  factory  at  Ogeechee  Shoals  were  consumed  by  fire. 
No  enemy,  to  amount  to  anything,  during  the  day.  Marched 
thirty-five  miles,  and  camped  at  dark.  During  the  night,  the 
First  brigade,  in  rear,  was  desperately  attacked ;  but  it  had  barri- 
cades, and  held  the  enemy,  until  daylight  of  the  twenty-seventh 
of  November. 

The  command  was  badly  incumbered  with  the  hundreds  of 
captured  horses ;  and,  with  an  enemy  pressing  our  rear,  they  were 
too  great  a  nuisance  to  be  endured.  Orders  were  received  to  turn 
over  to  the  Brigade  Quartermaster  all  led  animals.  The  Ninety- 
Second  turned  over  many  horses  under  this  order,  and,  before 
daylight,  they  were  slaughtered  at  Brigade  head-quarters;  four 


IS;  tfTXETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

hundred  splendid  horses  were  knocked  in  the  head  with  axes.  We 
could  not  use  them,  and  we  did  not  desire  to  have  the  enemy  use 
them.  At  daylight,  the  First  brigade  moved  to  take  the  advance, 
and  Atkins's  Brigade  held  the  rear,  and  the  Ninety-Second,  under 
the  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Van  Buskirk,  held  the  rear 
of  the  Brigade,  with  one  piece  of  artillery  and  the  Ninth  Michi- 
gan Cavalry  in  support  of  the  Ninety-Second.  As  soon  as  the 
First  brigade  passed  through,  the  Rebels  came  on.  The  Ninety- 
Second  lay  concealed  by  willows  that  grew  along  a  creek,  with  an 
open  field  in  front;  and,  when  the  rear-guard  of  the  First  brigade 
came  across  the  field,  and  kept  on  over  the  creek  and  up  the  road, 
the  enemy,  in  strong  force,  set  up  a  yell,  and  came  charging  over 
the  open  field.  The  Ninety-Second,  concealed  by  the  willows, 
waited  for  them  to  come  close  up,  and  then,  with  their  trusty 
Spencers,  sent  them  flying  back  again  across  the  open  field. 
Mounting  quickly,  after  repulsing  the  enemy,  the  Regimen',  fol- 
lowed the  command,  always  presenting  a  company  front  in  rear, 
ready  to  punish  the  audacious  Rebels  if  they  ventured  too  close. 
Lieutenant  Colonel  Van  Buskirk  handled  the  Ninety-Second  with 
consummate  coolness  and  courage,  successfully  beating  off  each 
desperate  assault  of  the  enemy.  He  revolved  his  companies,  one 
around  another,  like  a  revolving  horse-rake,  always  presenting  an 
unbroken  front  to  the  enemy.  About  ten  o'clock,  A.  M.,  the 
head  of  the  Ninety-Second  turned  squarely  to  the  right,  and  soon 
found  the  road  obstructed  by  the  column,  that  was  slowly  crossing 
by  twos  over  a  rickety  old  bridge, below  a  flouring  mill;  the  Reb- 
els were  pressing  desperately,  and,  crossing  the  angle,  were  at- 
tacking the  column  in  flank.  By  order  of  the  Brigade  Command- 
er, a  battalion  of  the  Ninety-Second  was  deployed  on  foot  to  pro- 
tect the  flank,  while  the  troops  slowly  crossed.  The  rifled  gun, 
and  a  company  with  Spencer  Rifles,  were  stationed  on  the  hill  be- 
yond the  mill  and  stream,  concealed  by  a  growth  of  thorn-brush 
and  crab-apple  trees.  When  the  column  was  over,  the  mill  and 
bridge  were  fired,  and  the  mounted  rear-guard  of  the  Ninety-Sec- 
ond disappeared  over  the  hill.  The  mill  and  bridge  soon  burned 
down,  also  destroying  the  mill-dam,  and  the  water  from  the  mill- 
pond  rushed  through  so  that  the  enemy  could  not  cross.  The 
Rebels  gathered  in  the  open  space  around  the  mill,  in  crowds,  on 
the  farther  side  of  the  creek,  when  the  gun  from  the  crab-apple 
knoll,  and  the  Spencers  opened.  The  gray-coats  hunted  cover 
lively.  The  Rebel  column  sought  a  crossing  farther  up  the 
stream,  and  the  Regiment  had  not  marched  many  miles,  when 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  1% 

the  gray-coats  were  again  charging  the  rear  with  desperate  cour- 
age. Their  style  of  fighting  was  more  dashing  and  desperate  than 
usual,  and  it  was  pretty  certain  that  other  troops  than  Wheeler's 
cavalry  were  on  our  trail.  Colonel  Atkins,  desiring  positive  in- 
formation as  to  who  was  following  him,  sent  two  half-breed  In- 
dians, soldiers  in  the  Ninth  Michigan  Cavalry,  of  his  Brigade, 
dressed  in  the  butternut  clothing  worn  by  the  citizens  generally, 
and  by  very  many  of  the  Rebel  soldiers,  to  a  house  half  a  mile 
from  the  road,  with  orders  to  remain  until  the  Rebel  column  came 
up,  then  mingle  with  the  Rebel  foragers,  and  ride  through  the 
Rebel  column.  They  did  it  successfully ;  riding  with  Wheeler's 
escort,  they  found  all  of  Wheeler's  command,  with  two  fresh 
brigades  from  the  Rebel  army  at  Richmond,  under  the  command 
of  Lieutenant  General  Wade  Hampton;  when,  starting  out  to  the 
side  of  the  road  with  the  foraging  parties  of  the  Rebels,  they  hur- 
ried along  through  the  woods  and  fields  to  return  to  the  head  of 
their  own  Brigade  with  the  information.  The  reckless,  dashing 
courage  of  the  enemy  in  his  persistent  attack,  was  now  explained 
— the  Rebel  soldiers  from  Richmond,  under  Hampton,  were  show- 
ing the  Western  Rebels,  under  Wheeler,  how  to  fight.  Informa- 
tion was  sent  to  General  Kilpatrick,  at  the  head  of  the  Division, 
that  Wheeler  and  Hampton  were  both  after  us,  and  it  was  sug- 
gested that  the  Division  had  better  turn  around  and  give  them  &• 
square  fight;  but  Kilpatrick  replied:  "Hold  them  steady,  and 
keep  well  closed  up.  lam  going  to  Millen,  and  don't  want  to 
fight,  and  shall  not  stop  to  fight  if  all  of  Lee's  army  is  after  me." 
Desperately  and  continually  the  gray-coats  kept  charging  the 
Ninety-Second.  Various  were  the  devices  for  decoying  the  enemy 
on  close  to  those  Spencers,  and  then  punishing  them  severely.  A 
company  of  fifty  men  would  form  at  some  point  in  the  thick 
brush,  with  open  fields  in  rear;  in  the  road  a  squad  of  six  or  eight 
mounted  men  would  halt,  fire  at  the  enemy  at  long  range,  then 
turn  and  retreat  on  the  column;  and  on  would  come  their  Confi- 
dent pursuers  at  a  gallop.  When  close  up,  the  fifty  concealed 
horsemen,  cool  and  quiet  from  much  similar  practice,  would'vblley 
them  with  their  repeating  rifles.  Then  the  enemy  would  imagine 
a  long  line  of  Yankees  concealed  there,  and  while  the  fifty 
mounted  men  were  leisurely  closing  up  on  the  column,  the  enemy 
would  deploy  his  skirmishers,  and  carefully  feel  his  way,  and  find- 
ing no  one,  he  would  come  on  again  more  desperately  than  ever. 
Selecting  points  with  good  range  to  the  rear,  a  company  of  cav- 
alry would  be  turned  out  at  the  head  of  the  Brigade,  to  build  a 


184  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

barricade — and  such  barricades  were  built  frequently  all  along  the 
road — the  companies  building  them,  as  soon  as  done  their  work, 
trotting  through  the  fields,  or  by  the  sides  of  the  road,  to  the  head 
of  the  column,  and  taking  their  places  again.  The  Ninety-Second 
would  come  along,  and,  concealed  by  the  barricade,  would  give 
the  too  confident  enemy  a  repulse.  And  then  the  Ninety-Second 
would  pass  the  barricades,  leaving  them  empty,  and  the  enemy 
would,  for  a  while,  imagine  them  full  of  Yankees,  and  would  de- 
ploy his  troops,  feeling  his  way  carefully,  or  flanking  them,  and 
finding  many  barricades  empty,  he  would  grow  reckless  again,  and 
would  again  run  onto  a  nest  of  those  death-dealing  Spencer  Rifles. 
Companies  D,  Captain  Lyman  Preston,  and  C,  Captain  R.  M.  A. 
Hawk,  and  I,  Captain  Egbert  T.  E.  Becker,  acted  nearly  all  day  as 
the  rear-guard  of  the  Regiment.  The  advance  of  the  Division 
captured  a  train  of  cars  at  Waynesboro,  tore  up  the  railroad,  and 
burned  up  the  town.  The  Ninety-Second  passed  through  the 
burning  town  of  Waynesboro  at  dark,  the  enemy  hotly  pursuing, 
and  about  a  mile  south  of  Waynesboro  found  the  First  brigade 
encamped,  with  strong  barricades  facing  north.  The  weary  'Regi- 
ment passed  through  the  First  brigade,  procured  forage  for  ani- 
mals, cooked  supper,  helped  to  tear  up  the  railroad  track,  and  sank 
wearily  to  rest.  The  gray -coats  skirmished  around  the  barricades 
of  the  First  brigade  all  night  long,  but  made  no  attack  in  force. 

The  cavalry  had  demonstrated  strongly  on  Augusta.  General 
Kilpatrick  learned,  during  the  night,  that  the  Union  prisoners  had 
all  been  removed  from  Millen ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty- 
eighth,  the  Division  took  up  its  line  of  march  for  Louisville, 
Georgia,  where  the  infantry  columns  were  to  rendezvous.,  Kil- 
patrick complimented  the  Ninety-Second  highly  for  the  splendid 
manner  in  which  the  Regiment  had  held  at  bay  the  Rebel  cav- 
alry, under  Wheeler  and  Hampton,  the  day  previous,  and  desired 
the  Ninety-Second  to  hold  the  rear  again  on  the  twenty-eighth; 
but  the  Colonel  commanding  the  Brigade  protested  against  put- 
ting all  the  work  on  a  single  Regiment,  and  offered  to  hold  the 
rear  with  the  Ninth  Michigan  Cavalry,  ot  his  Brigade,  a  splendid 
regiment,  armed  with  Spencer  carbines.  General  Kilpatrick  de- 
cided to  take  the  Ninth  Michigan  and  the  Eighth  Indiana,  and 
hold  the  rear  himself,  and  did  so.  Not  many  miles  out,  the  Gene- 
ral, forgetting  to  "  keep  well  closed  up,"  as  he  had  ordered  Atkins 
to  do  the  day  previous,  formed  the  two  regiments  in  a  good  posi- 
tion, and  resolved  to  give  the  enemy  a  charge  with  both  regi- 
ments ;  but,  while  waiting  for  the  enemy  to  attack,  a  portion  of 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  185 

the  Rebel  cavalry  reached  the  road  in  Kilpatrick's  rear,  and  cut  off 
the  Ninth  Michigan  and  Eighth  Indiana,  and  the  General  had  to 
about  face,  and  charge  through  the  Rebels  to  join  his  own  Divis- 
ion. Just  after  crossing  Buckhead  Creek,  an  Orderly  came  riding 
up  to  Colonel  Atkins,  telling  him  that  the  Ninth  Michigan  and 
Eighth  Indiana  had  been  cut  off,  and  those  regiments,  with  Gen- 
eral Kilpatrick,  had  been  captured.  Covering  the  crossing  of  the 
creek  with  two  pieces  of  artillery  and  the  Fifth  Ohio  Cavalry,  At- 
kins's Brigade  took  up  position,  and  waited  for  the  First  brigade 
to  pass  through,  and  with  the  rear  came  General  Kilpatrick  and 
the  two  regiments  all  right.  The  General  said  that  the  enemy 
had  surrounded  him  and  those  regiments,  but  that  they  cut  their 
way  through  to  the  command  again.  The  artillery,  and  the  car- 
bines of  the  Fifth  Ohio  Cavalry,  swept  the  bridge  and  corduroy 
road  at  Buckhead  Creek,  as  the  enemy  attempted  to  take  the 
bridge  by  a  charge.  The  enemy  was  handsomely  repulsed,  and 
the  bridge  completely  destroyed.  The  command  passed  on  about 
two  miles,  to  a  large  plantation,  where  General  Kilpatrick  re-, 
solved  to  make  a  stand  with  the  two  brigades  constituting  his 
Division,  and  give  the  enemy  a  repulse.  The  ground  was  admi- 
rably selected  for  it.  By  the  side  of  the  road  stood  a  large  house, 
and  around  the  house,  in  circular  shape,  were  constructed  rail  bar- 
ricades, Murray's  brigade  on  the  left,  and  Atkins's  Brigade  on  the 
right  of  the  road,  dismounted.  In  front,  on  the  right  of  the  road, 
was  an  open  field,  and  the  ground  was,  for  twenty  steps,  rising,  so 
that  the  Yankee  barricades  could  not  be  seen  any  distance  off. 
The  barricade  was  constructed  in  the  usual  method,  that  is,  of 
rails,  by  first  building  a  rail  fence  immediately  in  front  of  the 
line  of  battle,  and  then  laying  on  the  fence  other  rails,  one  end  on 
the  ground  toward  the  enemy,  and  the  other  end  on  the  fence, 
and  piling  them  on  thicklv.  It  furnished  an  excellent  protection 
against  musketry,  and  a  complete  barrier  to  a  cavalry  charge,  as 
no  horse  could  leap  it,  or  throw  it  down  by  impact  from  the  out- 
side. Eight  pieces  of  artillery  were  stationed  on  the  road,  and 
behind  the  barricade,  and,  flanking  the  artillery  on  the  right,  was 
the  Ninety-Second,  and  beyond,  stretching  to  the  right,  were 
other  regiments  of  the  Brigade.  The  enemy  was  delayed,  in 
crossing  Buckhead  Creek,  a  sufficient  time  to  enable  General 
Kilpatrick  to  complete  his  arrangements,  and  get  his  two  brigades 
in  position  behind  the  barricades,  when  the  enemy  came  on.  One 
battalion  of  the  Fifth  Ohio  Cavalry,  of  Atkins's  Brigade,  was  left 
on  the  road,  some  distance  in  front,  with  instructions  to  stubbornly 
23 


i86  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

resist  the  enemy,  and  compel  him  to  deploy.  Just  before  the 
enemy  made  the  attack  upon  Atkins's  Brigade  in  force,  and  while 
the  one  battalion  of  the  Fifth  Ohio,  on  picket,  was  stubbornly 
holding  the  road,  in  order  to  compel  the  enemy  to  deploy,  a  Rebel 
horseman  showed  himself  on  our  extreme  right.  He  halted 
his  horse  beneath  a  large  tree,  and  there,  remaining  mounted, 
coolly  surveyed  us.  This  was  too  much  for  Colonel  Van  Bus- 
kirk;  his  equilibrium  .was  disturbed  by  it.  Said  the  Colonel  to 
William  Black,  of  Company  K,  who  stood  near  the  Colonel : 
"  Will,  hand  me  your  gun,  and  I  will  shoot  that  fellow."  Will 
handed  his  gun  to  the  Colonel;  the  Colonel  took  deliberate  aim, 
and  fired.  The  Confederate  soldier  and  his  horse  never  stirred. 
The  Colonel  blazed  away  again,  but  the  Rebel  remained  as  im- 
movable as  an  equestrian  statue.  Said  Will :  "  Colonel,  you  are 
disgracing  my  gun;  give  it  to  me."  Will  took  his  gun — one 
quick  glance  along  the  barrel  from  his  dark  eye,  and  the  rifle 
cracked;  the  Rebel  fell,  and  away  went  the  horse,  riderless.  At 
.about  five  P.  M.,  the  Rebels  made  the  attack ;  they  deployed  in 
an  open  field,  in  front  of  Atkins's  Brigade,  on  the  right  of  the 
road,  in  heavy  force,  and  came  on  in  splendid  style;  when  the  field 
was  filled  with  them,  and  their  advance  was  within  seventy  paces 
of  the  barricades,  the  eight  guns,  double  shotted,  opened  on  them  ; 
the  Ninety-Second  and  Ninth  Michigan  volleyed  them  with  their 
Spencers,  and  the  Fifth,  Ninth,  and  Tenth  Ohio  Cavalry,  with 
their  carbines.  The  field  was  so  full  that  they  could  not  well  re- 
treat, and,  for  a  few  moments,  they,  with  courage,  pressed  on. 
The  artillery  was  fired  as  rapidly  as  the  gunners  could  work  their 
guns,  and  the  Spencers  and  carbines  volleyed  in  steady  succes- 
sion, the  roll  of  small  arms  being  as  unbroken  and  continuous  as 
the  thunder  of  a  waterfall.  Men  and  horses  were  moved  down 
in  front.  One  of  the  Confederate  officers  appeared  determined 
to  find  out  just  what  was  in  front  of  him,  and,  mounted  on  a 
beautiful  white  horse,  with  reckless  courage,  rode  up  to  within 
twenty  paces  of  the  barricade,  glanced  from  right  to  left  over  out- 
line; when,  turning  to  retreat,  horse  and  rider  were  killed;  and 
many  a  soldier  wearing  the  army  blue  almost  regretted  to  see  so 
brave  an  officer  fall.  The  enemy  retreated,  and  abandoned  his 
fruitless  effort  to  run  over  Kilpatrick's  two  brigades,  leaving  the 
field  in  front  of  the  barricades  covered  with  his  dead  and  wounded. 
A  light  attack  was  afterwards  made  on  the  First  brigade,  on  the 
left  of  the  road,  which  was  easily  repulsed.  A  Rebel  prisoner 
reported  the  enemy's  loss,  in  killed  and  wounded,  at  about  three 


NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  187 

hundred ;  but  a  Major,  in  General  Howard's  corps,  who  after- 
wards marched  by  that  plantation,  reported  that  the  Rebel  cavalry 
buried  two  hundred  of  their  dead  there;  and  if  that  was  true,  their 
killed  and  wounded  must  have  been  near  five  hundred.  After 
repulsing  the  enemy,  the  command  withdrew.  The  rear  guard 
reported  that,  long  after  they  had  retired,  they  heard  the  enemy 
firing  upon  the  empty  barricades.  The  Rebel  cavalry  had  dogged 
us  most  persistently  for  two  days,  and  probably  concluded,  be- 
cause Kilpatrick  did  not  choose  to  fight  them,  that  he  was  afraid 
to  fight,  but  this  repulse  undeceived  them.  The  two  brigades 
from  Lee's  army,  under  Hampton,  learned  that  the  Western 
Yankee  cavalrv  was  not  afraid  to  sit  down  in  the  road,  and  let  the 
enemy  try  to  run  over  them.  The  Rebel  cavalry  did  not  follow  us 
any  farther  that  night,  and  Kilpatrick  bivouaced  after  dark,  several 
miles  east  of  Louisville,  Georgia. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  November,  1864,  the  Ninety-Second 
moved  early,  with  the  Division,  to  Louisville,  where  the  infantry 
columns  lay  resting  for  a  day  or  two,  and  waiting  for  "  Uncle 
Billy,"  as  the  men  familiarly  called  General  Sherman,  to  tell  them 
when  to  go  again  and  where  to.  It  is  not  likely  that  any  one, 
aside  from  General  Sherman,  unless  very  high  in  rank,  knew 
where  General  Sherman  was  "  coming  out."  Some  wisely  shook 
their  heads,  and  "  guessed  "  he  would  go  to  Augusta,  and  through 
the  Carolinas;  some  thought  it  would  be  Savannah;  and  others, 
with  maps  before  them,  demonstrated  very  clearlv  that  he  in- 
tended to  break  off  to  the  right,  and  "  come  out "  somewhere  on 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  A  soldier,  in  his  diary,  writes :  "  If  the 
Rebels  don't  know  Sherman's  plans  better  than  we  do,  they  must 
be  sorely  puzzled."  General  Sherman  is  chatty  and  talkative,  but 
nothing  escapes  his  lips  that  he  desires  should  remain  unknown. 
The  country  was  very  fine,  the  weather  beautiful ;  cattle,  horses, 
hogs,  sheep,  geese,  chickens,  turkeys,  hams  and  sweet  potatoes 
were  found  in  the  greatest  abundance.  The  camps  were  scattered 
in  the  groves  along  the  streams,  and  Sherman's  soldiers,  in  the 
heart  of  an  enemy's  country,  were  like  a  vast  concourse  of  jolly 
nicnicers,  lolling  around  in  the  shade  of  the  trees,  telling  stories, 
wrestling,  pitching  quoits,  playing  ball  or  leap-frog,  and  anything 
for  sport  and  fun,  they  leisurely  whiled  away  a  day  or  two  that  had 
been  given  them  for  rest.  Sherman's  soldiers,  like  Sherman's 
bummers,  were  a  jolly  set.  They  would  joke  each  other,  and  play 
all  dav  on  the  march,  and  play  at  night  when  they  went  into  biv- 


i88  N1NETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

ouac.    The  soldiers  under  Sherman  will  remember  their  campaign 
through  Georgia  as  the  long  holiday  of  their  soldier  life. 

On  the  thirtieth  of  November,  the  Ninety-Second  lay  in  camp, 
washing  their  clothing,  shoeing  animals,  visiting  the  infantry 
camps  to  see  their  friends  and  relatives  in  other  regiments,  and 
getting  ready  for  a  fresh  start.  A  soldier  writes  in  his  diary  under 
this  date :  "  We  are  now  in  a  country  where  some  sugar-cane  is 
produced;  figs,  apples,  peaches,  and  all  kinds  of  fruits,  and  horses 
and  mules,  and  .lots  of  niggers,  of  all  colors,  are  also  produced 
here."  That  soldier's  head  was  level — negroes,  of  all  shades  of 
color,  were  a  regular  "  production  "  of  that  country.  Some  of  the 
female  quadroons  were  really  very  pretty ;  they  always  had  large, 
lustrous  eyes,  and  pearly  white  teeth.  They  knew  the  Yankees 
were  their  friends,  and  they  warmly  welcomed  their  deliverers 
from  slavery. 

On  the  first  of  December,  at  about  ten  A.  M.,  the  Ninety-Sec- 
ond marched  with  the  Division.  The  enemy,  apparently,  still  re- 
garded Augusta  as  Sherman's  objective  point,  and  Wheeler  and 
Hampton's  cavalry  were  north  of  Louisville,  on  the  Augusta 
Road.  Their  pickets  were  struck  as  soon  as  the  command  moved 
out.  General  Baird's  division  of  infantry  marched  in  the  road, 
maintaining  a  line  of  battle  with  two  regiments,  Atkins's  Brigade 
of  Cavalry  marching  through  the  woods  and  fields  on  Baird's  right 
flank,  and  Murray's  brigade  in  the  same  manner  on  his  left  flank. 
It  was  only  a  feint,  and  it  was  desired  that  the  enemy  should 
especially  see  the  infantry ;  and  for  two  days  this  manner  of  march- 
ing slowly,  the  infantry  always  with  a  line  of  battle  at  the  front, 
was  maintained,  the  cavalry  on  the  flanks,  with  flags  and  guidons 
unfurled,  and  bands  of  music  playing.  It  was  a  magnificent 
sight;  and  the  enemy  had  frequent  opportunities  of  observing  the 
heavv  column  of  infantry,  flanked  by  cavalry,  slowly  approaching 
them,  and  marching  on  Augusta.  It  was  eminently  successful; 
and  the  enemy  gathered  up  all  his  forces  to  protect  Augusta, 
leaving  an  open  and  uninterrupted  road  for  Sherman  to  Savannah. 
On  the  third,  the  column  marched  near  the  place  where  the  cav- 
alry had  repulsed  Wheeler  and  Hampton,  on  November  twenty- 
eighth,  after  crossing  Buckhead  Creek,  and  the  citizens,  living  in 
that  vicinity,  put  the  enemy's  loss  at  four  hundred  killed  and 
wounded.  That  night  the  column  bivouaced  at  Thomas's  Sta- 
tion, on  the  railroad,  between  Augusta  and  Millen.  The  infantry 
had  orders  to  tear  up  and  burn  the  railroad  ties  and  twist  the  rails, 
as"  soon  as  supper  was  over.  The  Ninety-Second  was  sent  to 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  189 

picket  the  road  beyond  the  infantry,  toward  Waynesboro.  A  sol- 
dier writes:  "  I  watched,  with  great  interest,  Baird's  division  of 
infantry  tear  up  and  burn  this  railroad.  Just  at  twilight,  after 
supper,  the  division  turned  out,  all  at  once,  at  the  tap  of  the  drum, 
and  for  four  miles  the  track  was  one  busy  line  of  living  blue. 
They  would  stand  in  line,  close  together,  on  one  side  of  the  track, 
and,  taking  hold  of  the  ties  and  rails,  they  would,  by  main 
strength,  lift  up  that  side  of  the  railroad  track  and  ties  as  high  as 
their  heads,  and  then  let  it  fall  back.  The  first  effort  would  al- 
ways loosen  a  few  of  the  iron  rails,  when  a  dozen  men  would  pick 
them  up,  handling  the  long  iron  rails  as  easily  as  a  farmer  handles 
his  pitchfork,  and  with  them  they  would  pry  off  other  rails ;  other 
men  would  pick  them  up,  and,  in  like  manner,  pry  off  other  rails, 
and,  in  an  incredibly  short  space  of  time,  without  any  tools — so 
many  men  were  at  work — they  would  have  the  rails  all  loosened. 
Then  the  railroad  ties  were  piled  up,  like  the  boys  build  corn-cob 
houses,  crossing  them  regularly,  in  piles  about  three  feet  high,  in 
the  middle  of  the  old  railroad  track ;  and  then  the  iron  rails  were 
carefully  laid  upon  them,  with  the  ends  extending  over.  The 
pitch-pine  and  red  cedar  rail  fences  at  the  sides  of  the  road  were 
added  as  fuel  to  make  the  railroad  ties  burn  well,  and,  in  half  an 
hour,  for  four  miles,  those  burning  piles  of  railroad  ties  made  a 
magnificent  sight.  The  work  was  so  equally  distributed  that  the 
men  all  seemed  to  finish  it  at  the  same  time,  and  the  fires  all 
along  were  lighted  at  once.  In  half  an  hour  more  the  iron  rails 
were  red-hot  in  the  center,  and  for  four  miles  those  piles  of  burn- 
ing railroad  ties,  the  rails  heated  red-hot  in  the  center,  made  a 
sight  not  soon  to  be  forgotten.  The  men  would  take  the  iron 
rails  by  the  ends,  when  red-hot  in  the  center,  and  wrap  them 
around  the  trees  and  telegraph  poles ;  or,  twisting  them  into  knots 
and  interlacing  them,  the  ends  sticking  every  way,  would  leave 
them  to  cool  in  huge  piles.  In  destroying  those  rails,  the  blue- 
coated  soldiers  were  putting  their  hands  directly  into  the  haver- 
sacks of  General  Lee's  soldiers  at  Richmond  and  Petersburg,  and 
taking  from  them  their  rations.  No  car  loaded  with  food  would 
again  pass  over  that  railroad  to  Lee's  army ;  no  long  trains  loaded 
with  troops  would  again  pass  over  it,  as  Longstreet  had  done  to 
reinforce  Bragg  at  Chicamauga."  In  the  middle  of  the  night,  the 
Ninety-Second,  while  on  picket,  heard  the  enemy  bringing  up 
artillery,  and  soon  the  sharp  report  of  their  guns  was  heard. 
What  did  it  mean?  Was  the  Rebel  infantry  before  us?  The 
Rebel  newspapers  were  representing  Sherman  as  wandering  about 


190  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

in  Central  Georgia,  not  knowing  where  to  go,  and  obscurely 
hinted  that  a  terrible  fate  awaited  his  army.  Camp  rumors  were 
flying  about  that  Richmond  was  evacuated,  and  Lee's  army  com- 
ing to  meet  Sherman.  But  the  Rebels  fired  only  two  shots,  and 
run  their  guns  to  the  rear  again,  and  the  Ninety-Second  men 
knew  that  they  did  not  intend  to  make  a  general  attack.  But 
these  two  shots  killed  two  men  in  the  Regiment :  Corporal 
William  Erb  and  Emmet  A.  Merrill,  both  of  Company  A. 

Early  on  December  fourth,  1864,  the  Division  moved  out,  to 
attack  the  Rebel  cavalry  under  Wheeler  and  Wade  Hampton,  At- 
kins's- Brigade  in  advance,  and,  as  the  column  came  by  the 
Ninety-Second,  on  picket  duty,  the  Regiment,  that  had  been  up 
all  night,  without  a  chance  to  cook  a  cup  of  coffee  for  breakfast, 
and  they  had  no  supper  the  night  previous,  was  ordered  to  advance 
on  foot,  and  forward  it  went.  The  Tenth  Ohio  Cavalry  was  lead- 
ing the  Brigade,  and  soon  found  the  enemv,  and  charged  in  col- 
umn down  the  road,  and  close  up  to  the  enemy's  barricade,  which 
was  erected  around  a  house ;  and  there  the  Tenth  Ohio  halted 
within  pistol  shot  of  the  enemy,  but  the  Rebels  had  carefully  se- 
lected their  ground,  and  built  strong  lines  of  barricades,  one  back 
of  another,  and  felt  so  certain  of  repulsing  our  attack,  that  thev 
did  not  care  to  punish,  as  they  might  have  done,  the  Tenth  Ohio 
Cavalry;  and,  by  direction  of  the  Rebel  General  Wheeler,  who 
could  be  seen  and  heard  distinctly  by  us,  the  Rebels  held  their 
fire.  The  Ninety-Second  was  ordered  to  come  forward  on  the 
double-quick;  but  the  weary  men,  who  had  not  slept  the  night 
previous,  and  had  gone  without  supper,  and  had  not  a  chance  to 
cook  breakfast,  were  not  in  condition  to  double-quick  far.  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Van  Buskirk,  with  the  Ninety-Second,  was  or- 
dered to  move  upon  the  enemy's  first  barricade,  directly  in  front, 
and  charge  him  out.  The  Fifth  Ohio  Cavalry  was  ordered  to 
move  in  column  on  the  right  flank,  and  the  Ninth  Ohio  Cavalry, 
Colonel  William  D.  Hamilton,  commanding,  a  gallant  soldier, 
whose  eagles  should  have  been  stars,  on  the  left  flank,  in  column. 
The  Ninety-Second  came  up,  and  formed  in  line  within  plain 
sight  and  easv  range  of  the  Rebel  barricade,  but  the  enemy  did 
not  fire.  The  Ninety-Second  moved  down  to  the  fence  in  the 
hollow,  in  front  of  the  enemy,  and  crossed  it,  and  again  dressed  in 
line,  and  then  coolly  and  deliberately  started  over  the  open  field 
and  up  the  hill  in  front,  and  within  ten  rods,  of  the  barricaded 
Rebels.  Now  the  enemy  had  the  Ninety-Second,  as  they  thought, 
at  their  mercy,  and  up  the  enemv  rose  behind  their  breastwork  of 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  191 

rails,  and  blazed  their  carbines  into  the  faces  of  the  Ninety-Second 
men ;  but  the  storm  of  bullets  from  the  repeating  rifles  of  the 
Ninety-Second  that  went  hissing  back  at  them  was  too  much  for 
the  gray-coated  soldiers,  and  they  sank  back  again  behind  their 
barricade,  while  the  Ninety-Second  leaped  forward  with  a  shout, 
and  onto  and  over  the  Rebel  barricade,  and  pumped  their  Spen- 
cers at  the  backs  of  the  retreating  Rebel  soldiers.  Eighty-seven 
prisoners  were  captured  by  the  Ninety-Second,  behind  the  barri- 
cade from  which  they  had  driven  the  enemy.  The  Tenth  Ohio 
was  pushed  forward,  and,  just  beyond  the  barricade  taken  by  the 
Ninety-Second,  it  was  charged  by  the  Rebels,  and  was  broken  into 
confusion ;  but  the  Ninety-Second,  with  cool  courage,  moved  for- 
ward in  line,  and  repulsed  the  charging  Rebels.  Another  line  of 
barricades  was  found  full  of  the  gray-coats,  who,  while  fighting 
hard,  did  not  wait  as  long  as  the  first  line  had  done,  but  retreated 
before  the  Ninety-Second.  The  artillery  was  brought  up,  and 
commenced  shelling  the  town  of  Waynesboro.  The  Fifth  Ohio 
was  pressing  in  hard  on  the  Rebel  left,  and  the  Ninth  Ohio  had 
already  passed  the  Rebel  right  flank,  and  the  enemy  was  leaving 
his  third  line  of  barricades.  The  Ninth  Michigan  and  Tenth  Ohio 
were  ready  to  charge  in  the  center,  as  soon  as  Colonel  Hamilton, 
of  the  Ninth  Ohio,  opened  the  fight  on  the  Rebels  beyond  the 
creek  and  near  the  town,  when  Kilpatrick  ordered  a  halt!  Twenty 
minutes  more  would,  probably,  have  given  us  five  hundred  pris- 
oners. As  it  was,  the  Rebel  cavalry,  under  Wheeler  and  Hamp- 
ton, that  had  tried  to  run  over  Kilpatrick  at  Buckhead  Creek  on 
the  twenty-eighth  of  November,  and  had  been  so  handsomely  re- 
pulsed, had  here  chosen  its  own  ground,  erected  three  separate 
lines  of  barricades,  each  back  of  the  other,  and  had  hoped  to  re- 
pulse us;  but  the  Ninety-Second  alone  had  routed  them  from 
their  first  and  strongest  barricade,  with  great  loss  to  the  Rebel 
cavalry,  including  eighty-seven  prisoners;  and  a  single  brigade 
had  put  the  Rebel  cavalry,  commanded  by  Generals  Wheeler  and 
Hampton,  to  flight! 

A  soldier,  on  the  evening  of  that  day,  writing  to  his  wife,  in 
his  letter,  said :  "  I  will  give  you  a  description  of  the  fight  of 
Waynesboro,  and  how  our  line  of  battle  was  formed.  The  Sec- 
ond Brigade,  commanded  by  Colonel  Atkins,  of  our  Regiment, 
did  all  the  lighting,  until  after  we  drove  the  enemy,  Wheeler's 
and  Wade  Hampton's  cavalry,  into  the  town  of  Waynesboro. 
The  Ninety-Second  took  the  center  on  foot,  and  the  other  four 
regiments  of  our  Brigade  were  on  the  right  and  left  flanks,  the 


192  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

battery  of  rifled  guns  with  the  Ninety-Second,  and  our  horses  fol- 
lowing in  rear;  the  First  brigade  of  our  Cavalry  Division  still 
farther  in  rear,  in  column  on  the  road,  and  then  came  General 
Baird's  division  of  infantry  in  column.  The  cavalry  command 
was  nearly  all  in  sight  at  one  time ;  it  was  a  splendid  sight  to  see 
— both  armies  drawn  up  in  sight  of  each  other  in  battle  array,  ten 
thousand  mounted  men.  I  have  read  of  such  sights,  but  never 
saw  one  before."  The  Ninety-Second,  after  Kilpatrick  had  com- 
manded the  Brigade  to  halt,  was  permitted  to  rest,  and  cook 
breakfast.  The  First  brigade  followed  the  enemy  out  beyond 
Waynesboro,  on  the  Augusta  Road,  skirmishing  lightly  with  the 
Rebels,  but  the  enemy  made  no  stand  in  force.  Our  burial  par- 
ties, it  was  said,  buried  one  hundred  and  eighteen  of  the  enemy. 
The  Ninety-Second  lost  seventeen,  killed  and  wounded.  George 
W.  Downs,  of  Company  I,  and  Jesse  Robinson,  of  Company  K, 
were  instantly  killed  while  bravely  fighting.  In  the  very  com- 
mencement of  the  engagement,  Captain  J.  M.  Schermerhorn,  of 
Company  G,  was  knocked  down  by  a  musket  ball,  but  his  life  was 
saved  by  the  handle  of  his  pistol  in  his  breast  coat  pocket;  the  pis- 
tol handle  was  broken  completely  off.  Corporal  David  Scott,  of 
Company  D,  familiarly  known  as  "  Gedee,"  color-bearer  for  the 
Brigade  Commander,  while  waving  the  Brigade  colors,  and 
cheering  on  the  men,  a  brave,  good  soldier,  was  struck  in  the  fore- 
head by  a  Rebel  musket  ball,  and  instantly  killed.  It  was  close 
up  to  the  second  barricade  of  the  Rebels,  and  the  Brigade  Order- 
lies dismounted  to  save  the  colors,  when  the  Brigade  color-bearer 
fell  dead  from  his  horse;  but  a  Rebel  Major  had  come  out  of  the 
barricade,  and  seized  the  flag-staff,  when  Hiram  F.  Hayward,  of 
Company  I,  one  of  the  Brigade  Orderlies,  seized  the  other  end  of 
the  flag-staff;  the  Rebel  Major  was  in  front  of  his  own  line  of 
battle,  and  his  men  could  not  lire  at  Hayward  without  danger  of 
killing  their  own  Major.  Hayward  had  his  navy  revolver  in  his 
hand,  and  the  Rebel  Major  only  his  sword ;  and  Hayward  drew 
bead  with  his  revolver  on  the  Major,  and  demanded  his  surrender, 
and  not  only  saved  the  Brigade  colors,  but  brought  in  the  Rebel 
Major  as  a  prisoner. 

We  had  now  feinted  sufficiently  on  Augusta,  and  Sherman's 
army,  stretching  from  the  Ogecchee  to  the  Savannah  River,  and 
with  both  flanks  protected  by  those  streams,  less  than  twenty 
miles  apart  at  Savannah,  swept  onward  toward  that  doomed  citv. 
The  Brigade  took  up  its  line  of  march,  the  Ninety-Second  in  ad- 
vance, toward  Savannah,  and  camped  that  night  at  Alexander,  on 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  193 

the  plantation  of  Mr.  Sapp.  Details  from  the  Ninety-Second  were 
sent  to  all  the  bridges  over  Briar  Creek,  on  our  left  flank,  and 
the  bridges  were  burned.  Old  Mr.  Sapp  was  sick,  but  young  Mr. 
Sapp  was  exceedingly  polite,  talkative  and  affable.  The  Brigade 
head-quarters  wagon  was  not  yet  up,  and  young  Mr.  Sapp  volun- 
teered to  get  up  supper  for  the  Brigade  Commander  and  staff,  and 
they  soon  sat  down  to  a  smoking  hot  supper  of  sweet  potatoes, 
corn  bread  and  ham.  He  had  no  knifes  and  forks;  he  said  the 
Yankee  soldiers  had  taken  them  all — but  pocket-knives  and  fingers 
served  in  lieu  of  his  missing  cutlery.  After  supper,  one  of  the 
Rebel  prisoners  asked  Mr.  Sapp  to  give  him  a  pair  of  pantaloons, 
in  exchange  for  the  blue  ones  the  Rebel  prisoner  had  on,  as  the 
prisoner  was  afraid  the  Yankee  soldiers  might  kill  him  on  ac- 
count of  his  wearing  the  United  States  uniform.  He  said  he  was 
an  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Sapp,  one  of  his  poor  neighbors,  a  private 
in  Wheeler's  cavalry;  but  Mr.  Sapp  would  not  make  the  exchange. 
Some  of  the  Yankea  soldiers,  sympathizing  with  the  Johnny  in 
blue  pantaloons,  took  the  responsibility  of  helping  him  to  the 
pantaloons  and  hat  worn  by  Mr.  Sapp.  The  Yankee  soldiers 
made  quick  work  with  the  homes  of  rich  Rebel  planters,  but,  to 
their  everlasting  honor  be  it  said,  they  were  always  kind  to  their 
prisoners  and  to  the  poor.  Many  a  time  might  have  been  seen 
some  poor  old  lady,  weeping  by  the  roadside,  made  happy  by  the 
hams  and  sweet  potatoes  the  Yankee  soldiers  would  give  her,  or 
by  an  apronful  of  Confederate  money.  Mr.  Sapp  pretended  to  be 
mourning  the  death  of  one  of  his  favorite  little  negro  boys,  Jack, 
by  name,  and  any  one  could  see  his  freshly-made  grave  in  the 
garden,  with  its  little  wooden  head-board,  marked  "Jack."  The 
grief  of  Mr.  Sapp  was  quite  inconsolable.  But  the  Yankee  sol- 
diers did  not  think  Mr.  Sapp  would  bury  a  little  darkey  in  his 
garden,  among  the  graves  of  his  family  and  ancestors,  and,  thrust- 
ing their  sabres  into  the  newly-made  grave,  they  discovered  that 
it  was  very  shallow;  and,  opening  the  grave,  they  found  it  con- 
tained a  barrel  of  sugar,  his  missing  knives  and  forks,  silverware, 
and  even  diamond  rings.  Poor  little  Jack  proved  to  be  a  valuable 
little  darkey,  and  the  Southern  newspapers  had  an  opportunity  to 
publish  that  Sherman's  vandals  did  not  respect  even  the  burial 
places  of  £he  dead. 

The  Regiment  marched  early,  on  the  fifth  of  December.    The 

day  was  beautiful — like  June,  in  Illinois — the  birds  Dinging  in  the 

trees  and  the  cattle  grazing  in  the  fields.     The  bridges  over  the 

streams  were  all  destroyed,  and   the  roads  barricaded   by  fallen 

24 


194  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

timber.  A  soldier,  in  his  diary,  writes :  "The  enemy  evidently 
intends  to  dispute  our  passage  and  give  us  a  fight;  but  if  we  do  not 
march  along  over  this  road  there  will  be  some  heavy  fighting 
done,  for  our  Generals  do  not  propose  that  the  enemy  shall  dic- 
tate what  roads  we  shall  march  on  in  the  dominions  rightly  be- 
longing to  our  venerable  Uncle  Samuel."  During  the  day  can- 
nonading was  heard  at  regular  intervals,  of  about  fifteen  minutes, 
like  the  low  rumble  of  distant  thunder.  The  citizens  said  it  was 
the  heavy  cannon  at  Fort  Sumter,  in  Charleston  harbor,  more 
than  a  hundred  miles  away  on  an  air  line.  Marched  early  on  the 
sixth,  through  a  flat,  sandy  and  swampy  country,  the  principal 
productions  of  which  were  rice,  alligators  and  negroes.  The  ne- 
groes being  the  most  profitable,  the  whites  had  .devoted  their  prin- 
cipal attention  to  that  production.  On  the  plantation  on  which 
the  Regiment  encamped  at  night  was  a  negro  overseer,  and  the 
negroes  said  that  he  was  more  severe  upon  them  than  any  white 
man  they  had  ever  had  for  a  driver.  We  were  covering  the 
Fourteenth  Army  Corps;  the  other  brigade,  with  Kilpatrick,  had 
gone  to  cover  the  right  flank  of  the  army.  The  Rebel  cavalry 
were  following  us  up,  but  thev  did  not  dash  into  us  very  hard; 
still,  the  cavalrymen  were  being  shot  every  day  on  that  long 
march,  and  the  ambulances  were  loaded  down  with  the  wounded 
men.  Marched  early  on  the  seventh.  It  had  rained  during 
the  night,  and  it  rained  all  day,  and  the  swamps  became  almost 
impassable.  We  were  marching  south,  along  the  right  bank  of 
the  Savannah  River,  the  infantry  in  advance,  our  Brigade  follow- 
ing, and  the  Rebel  cavalry  following  us.  On  the  river,  the  enemy 
had  a  little  steamer,  with  a  heavy  piece  of  artillery  on  it,  prob- 
ably a  32-pounder,  with  which  he  occasionally  shelled  the  Yan- 
kees; it  made  a  terrific  noise,  but  did  little  or  no  damage.  ,A 
soldier,  this  day,  in  his  diary,  writes :  "We  are  now  marching 
close  to  the  Savannah  River,  the  boundary  line  between  Georgia 
and  South  Carolina,  the  State  that  was  the  hot-bed  of  treason,  the 
author  of  all  the  Nation's  troubles.  It  would  please  us  bovs  to 
travel  in  that  State,  and,  undoubtedly,  we  shall  pay  them  a  visit 
some  day  in  the  future.  '  Uncle  Billy'  is  '  on  the  rampage,'  and 
if  he  don't  '  go  through'  South  Carolina,  it  will  be  because  the  war 
shall  end  before  he  '  gets  a  good  ready.'  "  • 

On  the  eighth  of  December,  the  command  marched,  at  twc 
o'clock  in  the  morning.  The  Ninth  Ohio  Cavalry  held  the  rear1, 
and  soon  after  daylight,  the  enemv  showed  considerable  spirit  and 
dash,  attacking  constantly  the  rear  guard.  The  country  was 


NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  195 

generally  level  and  sandy,  with  little  streams  crossing  the  road 
frequently,  and  emptying  into  the  Savannah  River.  These 
streams  always  had  a  swamp  on  both  sides  of  them,  filled 
with  a  dense  growth  of  black  gum,  and  other  trees  that  grow  in 
swampy  places,  covered  with  parasites.  Neither  animals  nor 
wheels  could  get  through  the  swamps,  except  upon  the  corduroy 
roads.  The  pioneers  would  cut  large  trees  nearly  off,  and,  when 
our  rear  guard  had  passed,  they  were  felled  into  the  road,  upon 
the  narrow  corduroy,  to  impede  the  enemv  following.  About 
noon,  the  command  crossed  one  of  these  swamps,  and  found  the 
infantry  bivouacing,  waiting  for  the  building  of  the  bridge  over 
Ebenezer  Creek.  An  officer  of  the  Ninety-Second  writes  in  an 
old  manuscript:  "The  enemy  were  pressing  the  Ninth  Ohio 
hard,  and  at  this  swamp  we  must  stop  them.  The  cavalry  bri- 
gade was  deploved  on  the  right  of  the  road,  facing  the  rear,  and 
covering  the  swamp,  while  a  brigade  of  General  Baird's  infantry 
was  deployed  on  the  other  side  of  the  road.  The  entrance  to  the 
swamp  was  more  abrupt  than  usual,  giving  us  a  good  opportunity 
to  barricade  the  road.  The  Ninth  Ohio  held  them  finely,  while 
the  brigade  deployed  and  made  preparations.  I  was  with  the 
Ninth  Ohio,  riding  with  Colonel  Hamilton ;  and,  hearing  a  yell 
like  the  Johnnies  alwavs  set  up  when  they  charge,  I  looked  and 
saw  a  long  column  coming  in  on  a  road  to  our  left,  so  as  to  cut 
off  about  half  of  the  Ninth  Ohio,  including  Colonel  Hamilton 
and  myself;  but,  fortunately,  a  Corpora!  and  six  Ninety-Second 
men,  with  their  repeating  rifles,  were  picketing  that  road.  The 
enemy  was  charging  in  column  of  fours;  I  could  see  the  column 
plainly,  and  could  hear  the  Rebel  officers  urging  on  their  men. 
But  the  Corporal,  with  his  six  men,  pumped  bullets  into  the 
head  of  that  column  so  rapidly  that  they  halted  it,  and  held  the 
road  until  the  Ninth  Ohio  had  passed  the  swamp,  and  the  road 
over  the  corduroy  had  been  barricaded  with  fallen  trees.  The 
enemy  dismounted,  and  with  a  long  line  attempted  to  cross  the 
swamp  on  our  right,  but  were  repulsed  by  Atkins's  Brigade; 
they  then  made  a  like  attempt  on  our  left,  but  were  repulsed  by 
one  of  Baird's  brigades  of  infantry.  They  then  held  a  steady  line 
on  one  side  of  the  swamp,  and  we  on  the  other.  After  dark,  we 
pushed  our  skirmish  line  out  into  the  swamp,  and  the  enemy  did 
the  same;  and  while  relieving  our  skirmish  line  during  the  night, 
great  caution  had  to  be  observed,  to  avoid  relieving  the  Rebel 
skirmishers  instead  of  our  own.  It  was  verv  dark,  and  the  skir- 
mishers were  behind  trees,  not  more  than  twenty  or  thirty  paces 


196  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

apart,  and  they  avoided  the  tedium  of  watching  on  the  skirmish 
line  by  chaffering  each  other.  The  Rebels  said  they  would  drown 
the  whole  pack  of  Sherman's  thieves  in  the  swamps  about  Savan- 
nah, and  our  men  replied  that  Savannah  would  be  in  our  posses- 
sion within  three  days.  I  sat  down  by  a  fire,  under  a  tree  in  the 
middle  of  the  road,  a  little  distance  in  rear  of  our  line  of  battle; 
and  it  was  all  quiet  during  the  evening,  except  occasional  skir- 
mish firing.  About  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  General  Baird's 
division  of  infantry  withdrew,  to  cross  Ebenezer  Creek ;  and,  as 
the  head  of  an  infantry  brigade  came  into  the  road  where,  by  the 
fire,  I  was  sitting,  a  couple  of  rifled  shell  went  screaming  and 
richocheting  up  the  road,  close  by  the  fire.  Two  more  shots  were 
fired,  and  then  the  Rebels  ran  their  artillery  to  the  rear.  The 
boys  called  to  them  to  keep  their  guns  there  a  little  while,  and 
thev  would  come  over  and  get  them  ;  and  the  Rebels  replied, '  Go 
to  — .'  But  we  did  not  want  to  go."  Another  officer,  in  his 
diary,  wrote  on  the  evening  of  this  day:  "I  am  sitting  by  a 
camp-fire,  writing  on  my  knees,  and  the  boys  are  spinning  their 
varns,  and  telling  each  other  their  big  lies.  The  negroes  come 
into  our  lines  by  hundreds,  but  we  cannot  do  anything  for  them. 
They  are  of  all  sizes,  all  ages,  all  sexes,  and  all  colors,  from  the 
whitest  white  to  coal  black;  women  of  all  ages,  and  little  children, 
all  barefooted,  and  with  scarcely  clothing  enough  to  cover  them. 
We  ask  them,  '  Where  are  you  going?'  and  they  answer,  '  With 
you  all.'  They  are  objects  of  pity.  All  have  their  ideas  of  free- 
dom. They  say  they  knew  we  would  come,  and  that  their 
masters  had  told  them  that  we  would  kill  them,  but  that  'Old 
Massa  and  Missus  couldn't  fool  us  in  dat  way.'  "  At  three 
o'clock,  on  the  morning  of  December  ninth,  the  cavalry  brigade 
followed  the  infantry  over  the  creek,  the  Ninety-Second  covering 
the  rear.  Four  companies  of  the  Regiment  were  detailed  to 
guard  the  pioneers  while  they  were  destroying  the  bridge,  and 
barricading  the  road  through  the  swamp.  An  officer  with  the 
detail  writes  in  his  diary:  "No  sleep  last  night.  We  have 
crossed  Ebenezer  Creek.  Three  companies  besides  ours  are 
here,  guarding  the  pioneers  while  they  destroy  the  bridge,  and 
obstruct  the  road  through  the  swamp.  (I  fell  asleep  while  writing 
the  above,  and  took  a  nap.)  Last  night,  about  twelve  o'clock,  the 
Rebels  opened  their  artillery  on  us;  it  created  quite  a  commotion. 
Their  shell  fell  among  us,  but  did  no  damage.  The  Rebel  gun- 
boats threw  shell  yesterday  into  the  road,  near  where  we  are  now. 
I  ha-ve  no  prospect  of  any  breakfast  yet,  but  I  am  not  very  nun- 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  197 

gry.  What  this  day  will  bring  forth  I  cannot  tell,  but  I  do  not 
think  we  will  be  troubled  with  the  enemy  to-day.  We  have  de- 
stroyed the  bridge,  and  obstructed  the  road  through  the  swamp. 
Nine  o'clock  A.  M.  Two  of  Company  I  men  have  just  been 
shot  near  the  bridge ;  one  man,  of  Company  A,  was  wounded,  the 
same  ball  killing  a  soldier  back  of  him.  I  have  been  watching  a 
sight  that  will  never  pass  from  my  memory.  There  have  been 
hundreds  of  negroes,  men,  women,  and  children,  following  our 
army.  Last  night,  on  the  other  side  of  the  bridge,  at  the  edge  of 
the  swamp,  thev  were  all  turned  out  by  the  guards,  and  not  per- 
mitted to  pass,  by  the  order  of  General  Jeff.  C.  Davis,  command- 
ing the  Fourteenth  Army  Corps,  and  the  command  crossed,  and 
the  bridge  was  destroyed,  leaving  all  the  negroes  on  the  other  side. 
At  this  present  writing,  the  negroes  are  crossing;  some  swim- 
ming, and  some  crossing  on  rafts.  The  Rebels  came  up  and  fired 
into  them ;  and  such  another  time  I  never  want  to  witness.  They 
are  as  afraid  of  the  Rebels  as  they  would  be  of  wild  beasts,  for 
the  negroes  know  that  it  will  be  death,  or  worse,  for  them  to  fall 
into  the  hands  of  the  Rebels,  after  leaving  with  the  Yankees. 
Some  of  them  jumped  into  the  water,  and  others  crawled  under 
the  bank  on  the  other  side,  the  women  and  children  screaming 
piteously  at  the  top  of  their  voices.  Some  of  the  children  were 
drowned.  They  are  getting  across  as  fast  as  possible,  and  I  think 
most  of  them  will  succeed ;  but  thev  are  most  pitiable  looking 
objects,  when  they  get  over,  and  out  of  range  of  the  Rebels. 
Most  of  them  have  on  very  little  clothing,  and  every  thread  of 
that  wet;  and  here  they  stand  around  the  fires,  shivering  with  the 
cold,  and  the  poor  women  and  children  crying  as  if  their  hearts 
would  break.  And  what  is  all  this  for?  It  is  for  freedom;  they 
are  periling  their  lives  for  freedom,  and  it  seems  to  me  that  any 
people  who  run  such  risks  are  entitled  to  freedom.  For  my  part, 
I  never  believed  it  policy  to  let  them  follow  our  army  at  all;  for 
an  army  on  the  march  has  enough  to  do  to  take  care  of  itself, 
without  being  encumbered  with  such  a  helpless  lot  of  non- 
combatants.  I  do  not  believe  there  is  any  one  in  this  army  to 
blame  for  their  leaving  their  homes ;  but,  as  they  have  been  al- 
lowed to  come  along  part  of  the  way,  unmolested,  I  believe  it  is 
a  burning  shame  and  disgrace,  and  inhuman  to  leave  them  to 
struggle  in  thirty  feet  of  water  for  their  lives;  for  they  prefer 
sinking  in  the  water  to  returning  to  slavery." 

About  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  the  Brigade  was  ordered  to  join  Kil- 
patrick,  and  marched  immediately  to  the  Georgia  Central  Rail- 


198  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

way,  and  encamped.  The  same  officer  of  the  Ninety-Second 
again  writes  in  his  diary :  "  Since  writing  the  foregoing,  we  have 
marched  in  a  south-easterly  direction;  what  the  distance  is  I  do 
not  know-.  I  must  say  a  little  more  about  the  negroes  I  spoke  of 
this  morning.  When  the  Rebels  fired  and  killed  the  men  at  the 
bridge,  they  made  the  negroes  all  go  back  that  had  not  got  over 
Ebenezer  Creek.  One  negro  woman  fell  in  with  us  three  days 
ago.  She  said  she  would  go  with  us  or  perish.  She  had  then  a 
small  child.  I  saw  her  this  morning,  on  this  side  of  the  creek ; 
she  had  lost  her  child,  but  how,  I  do  not  know.  She  herself 
crossed  the  creek  by  swimming.  I  saw  a  negro  man  and  woman 
on  this  side  of  the  creek,  who  had  crossed  by  swimming,  and  their 
little  boy  was  drowned,  and  the  mother  was  crying  as  though  her 
heart  would  break.  I  believe  her  boy  was  as  dear  to  her  moth- 
er's heart  as  if  she  and  her  child  had  been  white.  The  sights  I 
this  morning  witnessed  I  cannot  get  out  of  my  mind.  Supper  is 
ready ;  it  is  eleven  o'clock,  and  I  will  close  for  this  day."  An- 
other officer  of  the  Ninety-Second  writes :  "  All  the  way  through 
Georgia  we  found  the  negroes  our  friends,  ready  to  give  us  any 
information  or  assistance  in  their  power.  It  was  useless  for  old 
master  to  hide  his  horses  and  mules,  for  Sambo  would  tell  us  at 
once  where  they  were.  It  did  no  good  to  empty  the  smoke-house 
and  bury  the  me.at,  for  the  slave  that  did  the  work  was  always 
ready  to  point  out  the  exact  spot  of  its  burial.  If  the  corn  was 
carried  away  into  the  swamps  and  hid,  as,  indeed,  it  often  was,  it 
did  no  good,  for  some  slave  was  ready  to  tell  us  where  it  was. 
Stopping  at  a  house,  one  day,  while  the  men  of  the  Ninety-Sec- 
ond were  getting  the  corn  from  the  well-filled  crib  close  by,  I 
heard  one  of  the  men  asking  the  women  'where  their  meal  was. 
The  white  women  said  they  had  none,  but  an  old  negro  woman, 
pointing  to  a  swamp,  said :  '  Ole  Massa  out  dar,  wid  all  de  meat 
and  meal  dar  is.'  The  men  went  to  find  it.  I  heard  the  report  of 
a  Spencer  rifle,  and  by  and  bv  the  men  came  back,  loaded  down 
with  hams  and  corn-meal.  One  of  the  men  rode  up  to  me  and 
said:  '  I  found  the  old  man  in  the  swamp,  with  lots  of  hams  and 
meal,  on  a  pile  of  loose  cotton,  and  when  we  came  in  sight  he  set 
the  cotton  on  fire  and  ran — but  my  Spencer  halted  him.'  The 
young  ladies,  who  had  just  informed  me  that  they  had  no 
father,  listened  to  the  soldier,  and,  in  concert  and  in  tears,  cried 
out:  'Father  is  killed.'  At  the  sight  of  their  grief  I  could  not 
repress  my  own  tears,  and  regretted  that  the  soldier  had  not  let 
the  old  man  escape.  While  the  white  people  were  so  intensely 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  199 

bitter  in  their  feelings  toward  the  hated  Yankees  that  they  would 
burn  up  their  food  rather  than  permit  it  to  fall  into  our  hands — a 
thing  proper  enough  to  be  done  by  the  regular  troops  of  the  Rebel 
army,  but  not  proper  for  citizens  and  women — the  negroes,  on  the 
contrary,  hailed  our  coming  with  great  joy,  as  if  the  promised  day 
of  jubilee  had  arrived.  Many  a  time  I  have  seen  the  negro  men 
and  women  standing  by  the  roadside,  weeping  and  laughing  al- 
ternately, and  shouting:  '  Bress  de  Lord,  you  all's  come  atlas. 
I'se  always  knowed  de  good  Lord  would  heah  my  prayah,  and 
send  de  Yankees  down  heah.'  It  may  be  that  the  Lord  of  Heaven 
did  hear  the  prayers  of  the  humble  black  people  of  the  South,  and 
sent  the  victorious  Stars  and  Stripes,  emblem  of  liberty  in  deed 
and  in  truth  to  them,  the  faithful  friends  of  the  Yankees,  waiting 
patiently  and  praying  fervently  for  their  coming.  Did  one  of  the 
Union  prisoners  escape  from  the  horrible  prison  pen  at  Ander- 
sonville,  and,  fixing  his  eye  on  the  North  star,  which  had  filled  the 
hopes  of  many  a  fugitive  slave  flying  from  bondage,  traveling  by 
night  and  bv  stealth  through  that  hostile  country,  tracked  by 
bloodhounds,  as  the  fugitive  slave  had  been  tracked,  wish  for  a 
friend,  or  for  food,  or  for  shelter,  the  flying  Union  soldier  knew 
that  the  humble  cabin  of  the  black  slave  would  safely  furnish  it 
all  to  him.  During  the  long  march  through  Georgia,  the  negroes 
had  everywhere  been  our  faithful  friends  and  allies,  and,  literally 
in  thousands,  were  following  our  armies  out  of  bondage;  and, 
had  the  Union  Generals  been  heartily  in  favor  of  negro  troops, 
they  might  have  organized  whole  brigades  and  divisions  on  this 
inarch.  Before  daylight,  this  morning,  the  ninth  of  December, 
the  Fourteenth  Army  Corps,  commanded  by  General  JefF.  C. 
Davis,  crossed  Ebenezer  Creek ;  and,  by  the  order  of  General 
Davis,  a  guard  was  stationed  at  the  bridge  that  would  not  permit 
a  negro  man,  woman  or  child  to  cross.  Poor,  simple  people,  thev 
thought  it  was  because  the  whites  must  cross  first,  and  they  quietly 
and  patientlv  waited  by  the  roadside,  filling  the  woods  at  daylight 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  see,  never  dreaming  that  they  were  to  be 
entirely  debarred  the  privilege  of  crossing,  nor  did  they  know  it 
until  the  pioneers  were  tearing  away  the  bridge  after  the  last 
white  soldier  had  crossed.  Lett,  cruelly  left,  to  the  bitter  mercies 
of  the  infuriated  enemy  following  us!  And  the  negroes  were  the 
only  class  of  people  we  had  found  on  our  long  march  who  were 
our  faithful,  fast  friends;  a  simple-minded,  God-fearing  people, 
who  had  wrestled  in  secret  prayer,  beseeching  the  God  of  battles 
that  victory  might  be  with  our  army,  and  now  they  are  cut  oft" 


200  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

and  left  behind.  And  then  such  a  wild  panic  as  seized  them ; 
such  bitter,  heartrending  cries  of  despair;  such  pitiful,  beseeching 
entreaties  to  be  permitted  (o  cross,  I  never  before  witnessed  or  list- 
ened to.  They  ran  wildly  up  and  down  the  stream  ;  many  plunged 
in  and  struggled  through,  and  many  sank  beneath  the  dark  waters 
to  rise  no  more.  And  those  people  our  friends.  Let  the  '  iron 
pen  of  history'  write  the  comment  on  this  action  of  a  Union  Gen- 
eral." During  the  ninth  of  December,  we  marched  through  a 
country  settled  long  before  the  Revolutionary  war.  We  passed 
one  old  church  erected  in  1769,  that  had  been  used  as  a  hospital 
by  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolution. 

Marched  early,  on  the  tenth  of  December,  and  camped  at  three 
P.  M.,  nine  miles  from  Savannah,  covering  the  Seventeenth  Ar- 
my Corps,  commanded  by  General  Frank  P.  Blair.  It  rained 
during  the  night,  and  the  weather  grew  cold.  Marched  at  eight 
A.  M.,  on  the  eleventh  of  December,  and  camped  within  six 
miles  of  Savannah,  the  infantry  cannonading  the  Rebel  works. 
There  was  no  forage  for  animals,  and  the  cattle  that  had  been 
driven  along  with  the  army,  and  killed  for  beef,  were  so  poor  and 
weak  that  they  had  to  be  held  up  to  be  knocked  down ;  and  the 
meat  was  so  dry  the  men  could  not  fry  or  broil  it; and  when  boiled, 
it  was  as  tough  and  almost  as  innutritions  as  leather.  A  soldier,  in 
his  diary,  writes:  "  I  have  just  divided  my  last  hara-tack  with 
some  starving  little  children."  On  the  tenth,  lav  all  day  in  rear 
of  the  Seventeenth  Army  Corps.  On  the  eighteenth,  the  Brigade 
marched  at  nine  A.  M.,  and,  at  one  point,  ran  the  gauntlet  of  the 
Rebel  artillery  and  riflemen  in  a  Rebel  fort.  Marched  twenty 
miles,  crossing  the  Ogeechee,  at  King's  Bridge,  and  camping 
after  dark,  on  Clay's  plantation,  .near  Fort  McAllister.  Hazen's 
division  of  infantry  had  taken  Fort  McAllister  during  the  after- 
noon. The  negroes  said  that  Clay  had,  in  his  rice  plantation, 
nine  thousand  nine  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land ;  he  had  two 
hundred  able-bodied  slaves,  and  his  negro  quarters  made  quite  a 
village.  Near  the  house  was  an  extensive  rice  mill,  which 
Clay  instructed  his  slaves  to  burn,  if  the  Yankees  came  near;  they 
did  so,  and  the  Yankees  burned  up  everything  else  that  would 
burn.'  By  the  fall  of  Fort  McAllister,  communication  was  opened 
with  the  Yankee  fleet  lying  in  Ossabaw  Sound,  and  General  Kil- 
patrick  visited  one  of  the  Yankee  gun-boats.  Rice  in  the  straw 
was  all  the  forage  the  animals  had,  and  the  men  had  little  or 
nothing.  One  of  the  Brigade  Orderlies  had  captured  a  turkey, 
and  the  Colonel  commanding  the  Brigade  was  calculating  on  a 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  201 

feast  for  supper;  but  when  his  cook  turned  his  back  a  moment  to 
tell  the  Colonel  that  supper  was  ready,  some  hungry  soldier  gob- 
bled the  roasted  gobbler,  and  the  Brigade  Commander  went 
supperless  to  bed.  By  daylight  next  morning,  the  Yankee  fleet, 
loaded  with  rations,  was  at  King's  Bridge. 

While  Sherman  was  taking  steps  to  reduce  Savannah,  the  cav- 
alry had  to  be  subsisted  upon  the  country ;  and  the  Division 
marched  early,  on  the  fourteenth  of  December,  to  Midway 
Church,  nine  miles  from  Sunbury,  and  camped  amidst  abund- 
ance of  forage  for  animals,  and  plenty  of  hams,  sweet  potatoes, 
turkeys,  chickens,  etc.,  for  the  men.  Midway  Church  was 
guarded  from  spoliation,  as  was  also  the  grave-yard  close  by, 
which  was  walled  in  with  a  heavy  brick  fence,  built  before  the 
Revolutionary  War,  the  brick  having  been  brought  from 
England.  It  was  a  sombre  place.  Great  live  oak  trees,  covered 
with  long  hanging  Spanish  moss,  stood,  like  mourning  sentinels, 
above  the  tombs.  Graves  were  found  with  inscriptions  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  old.  A  soldier  of  the  Ninetv-Second,  in  his  diarv, 
writes:  "Our  Commander  has  placed  a  guard  over  the  church 
and  grounds,  to  see  that  nothing  is  injured.  The  people  here  pay 
a  great  deal  of  attention  to  their  dead,  and  to  their  religion. 
Their  slaves  get  one  pint  of  salt,  and  four  pecks  of  corn,  in  a 
month,  to  eat,  and  nothing  else.  Who  says  they  are  not  a  Chris- 
tian people?"  On  the  fifteenth,  the  command  lay  in  camp.  A 
soldier  writes  in  his  diary :  "  To-day  we  obtained  permission, 
and  organized  a  party,  to  go  to  the  Atlantic  coast.  Sunbury,  at 
the  head  of  St.  Catharine's  Sound,  is  where  we  went,  and,  for  the 
first  time  in  my  life,  I  saw  the  salt  water.  I  rode  my  horse  into 
it,  but  he  did  not  drink  it.  I  bathed  in  the  salt  water;  gathered 
and  ate  oysters;  and  s;i\v,  in  the  distance,  a  United  States  man-of- 
war,  and  a  gun-boat  of  our  blockading  squadron.  Sunbury  is  one 
of  the  oldest  settled  towns  in  the  State  of  Georgia.  During  the 
Revolution,  the  British  captured  and  destroyed  it,  and  marched 
from  Sunbury  to  Savannah.  At  that  time,  this  country  was  all 
settled  up:  many  of  the  lands  that  were  tilled  then  are  now  fine 
forests,  with  trees  from  ten  to  sixteen  inches  in  diameter.  We 
visited  old  Fort  Sunbury :  it  was  once  a  strong  fort.  There  was 
one  64-pounder,  and  one  12-pound  gun,  lying  in  the  fort."  The 
Division  marched  at  six  P.  M.,  the  Ninety-Second  in  rear  of 
e\*rvlhing.  The  roads  were  badly  cut  up.  Camped  late. 
Marched  at  ten  A.  M.,  on  the  sixteenth,  to  King's  Bridge,  and  went 
into  permanent  camp,  in  the  pine  woods  bordering  the  Ogeechee, 


202  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

not  far  from  the  ship-landing,  from  which  Sherman's  troops  about 
Savannah  were  to  get  supplies  of  hard-tack,  sow-belly,  and  am- 
munition. At  two  P.  M.,  the  Division,  under  command  of  Colo- 
nel Atkins,  marched  again  toward  Midway,  in  rear  of  General 
Mower's  division  of  infantry,  on  an  expedition  to  Altamaha 
River,  to  destroy  the  railroad  and  railroad  bridges  on  the  Savan- 
nah and  Gulf  Railroad.  The  infantry  wagon  trains  were  fast  in 
the  mud.  Long  after  dark,  the  command  bivouaced,  having 
inarched  but  six  miles.  Only  five  companies  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  accompanied  the  command.  At  daylight,  marched  to 
Midway,  ted  animals,  and  cooked  breakfast.  Marched  at  nine 
A.  M.,  passed  the  infantry,  and  took  the  advance,  and  halted  for 
dinner  at  Hinesville,  a  very  pretty  little  town,  quite  a  resort  in 
summer  for  the  rice  planters.  The  country  was  full  of  forage 
and  provisions. 

Len  Lockridge,  of  Company  D,  was  picking  up  provisions  for 
General  Kilpatrick,  and,  after  the  command  had  marched  through 
Hinesville,  Len  returned  with  a  wagon  load  of  such  eatables  as  he 
had  gathered.  Riding  ahead  of  the  wagon  intoj  Hinesville,  he 
ran  into  a  squad  of  Rebel  cavalrv  belonging  to  Hawkins's  brigade. 
They  had  on  blue  overcoats,  and,  supposing  them  to  be  our  own 
men,  Len  rode  right  in  among  them.  There  were  seven  of  the 
Rebels.  They  stripped  Lockridge  of  all  his  clothing,  except  pants 
and  shirt,  and  took  him  to  Hawkins's  head-quarters,  and,  after  be- 
ing examined  by  Hawkins,  he  was  ordered  to  be  taken  to  the 
head-quarters  of  General  Iverson,  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
It  was  twelve  o'clock  at  night,  and,  until  the  party  were  ready  to 
start  with  him,  they  put  Lockridge  into  an  old  church,  under 
guard.  Lying  down  near  the  pulpit,  as  if  to  sleep,  he  saw  that  he 
might  crawl  under  the  seats  to  the  door.  His  guards  were  nap- 
ping, and  he  crawled  carefully  under  the  seats  back  to  the  church 
door,  determined  to  escape  if  possible.  As  he  approached  the 
door,  once  through  which  and  into  the  woods,  he  felt  he  would 
be  safe  from  the  pursuit  of  his  too  careless  guards,  he  saw,  bv 
the  fire  outside,  two  bloodhounds.  His  heart,  panting  to  escape, 
sank  at  the  sight;  to  spring  from  that  door  was  to  be  seized  by 
tltose  bloodhounds,  and  he  might  as  well  face  a  Rebel  prison-pen. 
He  quietly  crawled  back  again.  At  two  o'clock  A.  M.,  a  Rebel 
Captain  and  five  men  started  with  him  to  Iverson's  head-quarters; 
at  the  end  of  eleven  miles,  one  man  was  relieved,  and  at  the  end 
of  the  next  ten  miles,  two  men  were  relieved,  and  not  long  after 
that  the  Captain  and  one  man  stopped  at  a  house,  leaving  Lock- 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  203 

ridge  in  charge  of  but  one  guard,  who  was  told  to  shoot  him  if  he 
attempted  to  get  away.  A  little  farther  on,  they  came  to  a  house 
where  a  woman  stood  at  the  door,  and  Lockridge  requested  his 
guard  to  get  him  a  drink  of  water.  The  woman  handed  a  cala- 
bash of  water  to  the  guard,  and  he  handed  it  to  Lockridge ;  after 
drinking,  he  returned  the  calabash  to  the  guard,  who  was  sitting 
on  his  horse,  with  his  guri  across  the  pommel  of  his  saddle,  and 
just  as  the  guard  was  reaching  the  calabash  back  to  the  woman, 
Lockridge  struck  the  guard  with  his  fist,  knocking  him  from  his 
horse,  and,  grabbing  the  guard's  gun,  he  beat  him  over  the  head 
with  it;  then,  mounted  on  the  guard's  horse,  he  dashed  up  the 
road,  and  as  soon  as  out  of  sight  of  the  house  he  took  to  the  woods. 
He  rode  rapidly  four  or  five  miles,  when  his  horse  gave  out  and 
mired  in  a  swamp,  and  Lockridge  kept  on  on  foot.  At  sundown, 
he  could  hear  the  hounds  baying  on  his  track.  The  Rebel  gun 
he  held  in  his  hand  would  not  do  for  a  pack  of  bloodhounds.  To 
climb  into  a  tree,  safe  from  their  pursuit,  would  only  be  to  wait 
until  the  hounds  came  up,  accompanied  by  his  pursuers.  To 
escape  the  hounds  and  the  pursuing  Rebels,  he  swam  the  Alta- 
maha  River,  and  learning  its  course  by  its  current,  he  kept  down 
the  river  on  the  other  side.  He  had  gone  about  five  miles,  when 
he  heard  the  hounds  again,  and  he  again  crossed  the  river,  and 
kept  on  down  the  stream,  and  again  hearing  the  hounds,  he  again 
swam  the  river.  Lockridge  traveled  on  day  and  night,  for  sev- 
enty hours,  through  swamps  and  woods,  shunning  the  road,  along 
which  the  Rebel  courier  line  ran.  He  grew  hungry,  and  would 
craAvl  up  back  of  the  houses  until  he  would  see  men  about,  and 
then  skulk  back  into  the  woods  again.  At  length  he  found  a 
house  with  no  men  about  it,  and  entered  it  and  helped  himself  to 
cold  victuals  from  the  cupboard,  and  hastened  to  the  woods  to  eat, 
the  first  he  had  tasted  for  seventy-two  hours.  And  so  he  kept  on, 
through  swamp  and  cane-brake,  for  four  days  and  nights.  Dur- 
ing the  fourth  night  he  saw  a  fire  in  the  woods,  and,  fearing  it 
might  be  a  Rebel  picket,  he  cautiously  crawled  up  to  it,  and  found 
a  single  old  negro  asleep  by  the  fire.  Stalking  up  to  him,  with 
his  gun,  he  pretended  to  be  a  Rebel  soldier,  and  endeavored  to 
learn  his  surroundings;  but  the  old  negro  was  so  dumb  he  could 
get  no  information  from  him.  Lockridge  changed  his  tactics, 
and  told  the  old  black  man  that  he  was  a  Yankee  soldier,  trying 
to  escape  .from  the  Rebels,  and  then  the  old  negro  was  intelligent 
and  chatty.  The  old  negro  became  his  guide,  and  procured  an 
axe,  with  which  they  made  a  raft  and  crossed  the  Altamuha  River, 


i04  N1NETT-SECOKD  ILLINOIS. 

At  daylight  he  hid  in  the  woods,  and  the  old  negro  brought  him 
his  breakfast;  he  lay  in  the  woods  all  day,  and  in  the  evening  the 
old  negro  brought  him  his  supper,  and  was  again  his  guide;  and 
they  traveled  all  night,  making  about  twenty  miles,  when  the  old 
negro  again  brought  him  his  breakfast,  and  turned  him  over  to  a 
friend,  another  negro,  who  was  his  guide  the  next  night.  And 
thus  guided  and  helped  on  his  way  by  the  negroes,  he  reached  the 
Yankee  lines  eight  days  after  his  capture. 

The  Cavalry  Division  camped  after  dark,  on  December  eight- 
eenth, at  Johnston's  Station.  A  lady  residing  there,  said  that 
when  the  Union  prisoners  were  taken  South,  she  went  to  the 
train  with  a  basket  of  food,  but  that  the  guard  would  not  let  her 
give  it  to  the  Yankees.  She  saw  one  Yankee  prisoner  pick  up  a 
kernel  of  corn,  and  the  guard  made  him  throw  it  away  again. 
The  command  marched  early  on  the  nineteenth,  crossed  Jones's 
Creek,  and  marched  to  the  Altamaha  River,  opposite  Doctor- 
town,  the  intention  being  to  burn  the  railroad  bridge  crossing  the 
river;  but  the  Rebels  had  a  fort  protecting  the  bridge.  The 
Ninety-Second  marched  out  into  the  swamps,  dismounted,  to  flank 
the  fort,  but  was  ordered  back,  and  the  command  withdrew.  The 
Rebels  ran  an  engine  with  a  flat  car  ahead  of  it,  from  Doctortown 
to  the  fort;  on  the  flat  car  was  a  cannon,  and  the  Rebels  blazed 
away  with  it,  until  a  section  of  our  jo-pound  rifled  Rodmans 
opened  in  replv,  when  they  ran  their  railroad  artillerv  to  the  rear. 
A  long,  high  trestle  was  destroyed.  The  command  returned  to 
Johnston's  Station,  and  camped,  after  dark.  In  fording  Jones's 
Creek,  a  large  number  of  horses  were  drowned.  Marched  at 
seven  A.  M.,  on  the  twentieth,  to  Jonesville,  and  camped  amidst 
plenty  of  forage  for  animals  and  plenty  for  the  men  to 'eat. 
Marched  next  day,  to  Riceboro.  The  people  had  seen  nothing  of 
the  war,  and  were  all  at  home.  On  the  twenty-second,  the  com- 
mand returned  to  King's  Bridge,  and  went  into  old  camps,  after 
dark.  On  the  twenty-third  of  December,  we  heard  of  the  capture 
of  the  city  of  Savannah,  with  two  hundred  pieces  of  artillery,  one 
hundred  railroad  locomotives  and  many  cars,  thirty  thousand 
bales  of  cotton,  and  nine  hundred  Rebel  prisoners.  It  was  a 
happy  day  in  camp.  Colonel  Atkins,  in  closing  his  official  report 
of  the  march  through  Georgia,  said :  "  During  the  campaign,  my 
Brigade  has  marched  five  hundred  and  twenty  miles;  been  fre- 
quently in  action,  and  always  successful;  has  captured  eleven 
hundred  and  fifty-nine  mules  and  horses;  men  and  animals  were 
subsisted  principally  upon  the  country :  my  Brigade  burned  five 


NINBTT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  205 

thousand,  eight  hundred  and  forty  bales  of  cotton,  one  hundred 
and  twenty-nine  cotton  gins  and  cotton  houses,  and  eleven  flour- 
ing mills."  General  Kilpatrick's  official  report  of  the  campaign 
from  Atlanta  to  Savannah,  contains  the  following :  "  Before 
closing  my  remarks,  I  desire  to  make  favorable  mention  of  my 
Brigade  Commanders,  Colonels  Murray  and  Atkins;  both  have 
at  all  times  faithfully  and  ably  performed  the  responsible  duties 
which  have  devolved  upon  them;  always  on  duty,  attentive  to 
orders,  energetic,  skillful  and  brave.  Both  are  educated,  gentle- 
manly and  accomplished  cavalry  officers.  Both  merit  promotion." 
And  further  on  in  his  official  report,  General  Kilpatrick,  in  men- 
tioning the  various  regiments  in  his  Division,  says:  "  The  Nine- 
ty-Second Illinois  Mounted  Infantry,  Lieutenant  Colonel  Van 
Buskirk,  have,  at  all  the  various  places  mentioned,  behaved  most 
handsomely,  and  attracted  my  especial  attention."  After  receiv- 
ing General  Kilpatrick's  official  report,  General  Sherman  ad- 
dressed the  following  letter  to  General  Kilpatrick : 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  MIL.  Div.  Miss.  [ 
"  In  the  Field,  Savannah,  Ga.,  Dec.  29th,  1864.      ) 
"  Brig.  Gen'l  Judso/i  Kilpatrick,  Comd'g  Cavalry  Division,  Army 

of  Georgia: 

"  GKXF.RAT.  :  I  have  read,  with  pleasure,  your  report,  just 
received,  as  well  as  those  of  your  Brigade  Commanders.  I  beg 
to  assure  you  that  the  operations  of  the  cavalry  under  your  com- 
mand have  been  skillful  and  eminently  successful.  As  you  cor- 
rectly state  in  your  report,  you  handsomely  feinted  on  Forsythe 
and  Macon;  afterwards  did  all  that  was  possible  toward  the  rescue 
of  our  prisoners  at  Millen,  which  failed  simply  because  the  pris- 
oners were  not  there.  And  I  will  here  state,  that  you  may  have 
it  on  my  signature,  that  you  acted  wisely  and  well,  in  drawing 
back  from  Wheeler  to  Louisville,  as  I  had  instructed  you  not  to 
risk  your  cavalry  command.  And  subsequently,  at  Thomas's 
Station,  Waynesboro,  and  Brier  Creek,  you  whipped  a  superior 
cavalry  force,  and  took  from  Wheeler  all  chance  of  boasting  over 
you.  But  the  fact,  that  to  you,  in  a  great  measure,  we  owe  the 
march  of  four  strong  infantry  columns,  with  heavy  train£  and 
wagons,  over  three  hundred  miles,  through  an  enemy's  country, 
without  the  loss  of  a  single  wagon,  and  without  the  annoyance  of 
cavalry  dashes  on  our  flanks,  is  honor  enough  for  any  Cavalry 
Commander. 

"  I  will  retain  vour  report  for  a  few  days,  that  I  may,  in  my 
own  report,  use  some  of  your  statistics,  and  then  will  forward  it 


306  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

to  the  War  Department,  when  I  will  endorse  your  recommenda- 
tions, and  make  such  others  as  I  may  consider  necessary  and 
proper.  I  am  truly  your  friend, 

"  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

"  Maj.  Gen'l  Comd'g." 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  207 


CHAPTER  VII. 

CAMPING  AND  FORAGING  ABOUT  SAVANNAH — STARTING  ON  THE 
MARCH  AGAIN — A  TORCH-LIGHT  BATTLE — INTO  SOUTH 
CAROLINA — BARNW^LL — THE  REBEL  TRAP  AT  AIKEN — THE 
NINETY-SECOND,  COMPLETELY  SURROUNDED  BY  THE  ENE- 
MY, GALLANTLY  CUTS  ITS  WAY  OUT — EXCHANGING  PRIS- 
ONERS WITH  WHEELER — SENDING  UP  SKY-ROCKETS — 
RUNNING  INTO  THE  REBEL  CAMPS  AT  NIGHT — AVERYS- 
BORO — BENTONSVILLE — NEWS  OF  LEE'S  SURRENDER — 
FIGHTING  NEAR  RALEIGH — ENTERING  RALEIGH— CHAPEL 
HILL — MARCHING  ALONG,  GRAY-COATS  AND  BLUE-COATS 
TOGETHER— CONCORD— MUSTERED  OUT— HOMEWARD  BOUND 
— THE  THREfe  YEARS'  SOLDIERING  ENDED. 

Sherman  presented  to  President  Lincoln  the  captured  city  of 
Savannah,  as  a  Christmas  present,  December  25th,  1864.  It  was 
Sabbath.  The  Ninety-Second  lay  in  camp,  in  the  pine  woods 
bordering  the  Ogeechee  River,  near  King's  Bridge,  enjoying  a 
Christmas  least  of  oysters  in  the  shell,  fresh  from  the  Atlantic 
brine,  all  the  Regiment  feeling  very  happy  at  the  glorious  ending 
of  the  long  campaign.  Captain  J.  M.  Schermerhorn,  of  Com- 
pany G,  the  informal  Commissary  General  of  the  Ninety-Second, 
had  provided  the  oysters;  with  a  detail  of  men,  Captain  Scher- 
merhorn had  gone  to  the  coast,  and  returned  with  several  six- 
mule  wagon  loads  of  oysters  in  the  shell.  When  Atlanta  was 
taken,  the  Regiment  had  anticipated  a  rest;  but  the  capture  of 
Savannah  created  no  such  anticipations.  Hood's  army  had  gone 
to  Nashville,  and  we  were  too  far  from  Lee's  armv,  which  was 
properly  our  objective;  it  must  come  toward  us,  or  we  must  go 
toward  it.  Preparations  for  a  march  through  the  Carolinas  began 
immediately,  but  it  required  weeks  to  put  the  large  army  in  con- 
dition to  resume  the  march.  On  the  twenty-sixth  of  December, 
the  Ninety-Second  moved,  at  seven  A.  M.,  with  the  Brigade  and 
Division,  and  went  into  camp  eight  miles  south  of  Savannah, 


208  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

where  it  remained  until  the  second  of  January,  1865.  It  was  ex- 
pected that  rations  and  forage  would  be  plenty  at  Savannah ;  but 
rations  were  short,  and  forage  so  scarce  that  Sherman  had  not 
enough  for  the  animals  belonging  to  the  artillery,  ambulances, 
and  trains  of  the  infantry.  The  cavalry  were  without  forage,  and  ' 
the  men  dug  the  rice  straw  out  of  the  Rebel  fortifications,  where 
it  had  been  used,  as  the  ancients  used  straw  to  make  bricks,  to 
hold  together  the  soft  swamp  soil  of  which  the  fortifications  were 
constructed,  carefully  washed  it  in  the  swamp  water,  and  fed  it  to 
the  starving  horses.  Sometimes,  on  the  rice  plantations  about 
Savannah,  the  men  would  find  rice  in  the  straw,  and  it  was  fed  to 
the  horses,  as  the  farmers  feed  oats  in  the  sheaf;  but  the  hard  rice 
was  indigestible,  and  made  the  animals  sick. 

On  the  thirty-first  of  December,  1864,  at  midnight,  the  Ninety- 
Second  Silver  Cornet  Band  played  the  old  year  out,  with  sad  music, 
and  the  New  Year  in,  with  gay  music,  and  the  men  of  the  Regi- 
ment joined  in  the  chorus  with  gleeful  shouts.  Sweetly  the  music 
of  the  silver  horns  rang  out  on  the  stillness  of  the  midnight  air. 
Those  who  would  have  kept  watch-night  at  home,  kept  it  in  the 
camp.  One  year  before,  they  had  kept  it  by  their  great  fires  on 
Judge  Hammond's  plantation,  in  Northern  Alabama:  and  now, 
beneath  the  long-leaved  pines  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  in  Southern 
Georgia,  they  watched  the  old  year  out,  and  welcomed  the  New 
Year  in.  It  was  not  so  cold  as  the  year  before;  roses,  and  many 
other  flowers,  were  in  bloom  in  the  gardens  about  the  deserted 
dwellings.  The  animals  were  in  a  starving  condition,  and,  on  the 
second  of  January,  1865,  the  Brigade  moved  across  King's  Bridge, 
and  marched  twenty  miles,  to  Taylor's  Creek,  to  be  in  a  country 
where  food  for  men  and  animals  was  procurable.  The  horses 
were  so  weak  and  poor  that  most  of  the  command  walked,  and  led 
their  faithful  and  hungry  horses.  Taylor's  Creek  was  reached 
after  dark,  and  plentv  of  forage  and  provisions  were  found.  On 
the  third,  the  Ninety-Second  was  sent  out  to  forage  for  the  Brig- 
ade, and  about  five  miles  from  camp  found  plentv  of  corn,  hams 
and  sweet  potatoes,  and  loaded  the  wagons,  and  returned  to  camp 
with  abundance  for  the  entire  Brigade.  A  soldier,  in  his  diary, 
wrote:  "  This  is  what  is  called  living  on  the  enemy,  for  the  Lord 
knows  we  have  nothing  else."  But  nothing  else  was  needed — 
corn  for  the  animals,  and  sweet  potatoes  and  meat  for  the  men, 
were  all  that  was  required.  On  the  fourth,  one-half  the  Ninety- 
Second  went  foraging.  The  following  characteristic  communica- 
tion was  received  from  General  Kilpatrick,  the  jolly  little  Briga- 


NINETY -SECOND    ILLINOIS.  209 

dier,   who   commanded    Sherman's   cavalry.      We  give  it  as   a 

specimen : 

"  Colonel  ATKINS,  Commanding  Cavalry,  Taylor's  Creek,  Ga. : 

"  Colonel:  I  have  heard  from  Colonel  Jordan.  He  is  doing 
well.  Has  been  directed  to  push  in  to-morrow  and  form  a  junc- 
tion with  you  on,  or  beyond  Taylor's  Creek.  I  wish  you  to 
thoroughly  scout  the  country,  capturing  all  the  horses  and  mules 
possible.  Be  bold.  Times  have  wonderfully  changed.  One 
Yankee  can  run  sixteen  lousy  Rebs.  Isn't  it  funny?  Keep  your 
tailors,  shoemakers,  blacksmiths,  and  farmers,  poor  cowardly 
devils  from  the  North,  constantly  at  work,  and  don't  give  the  brave, 
chivalric,  and  magnanimous  sons  of  the  sunny  South  a  chance  to 
steal,  cook,  and  eat  ary  tater.  I  desire  you  to  remain  until  Satur- 
day morning.  No  news  of  importance. 

"  Very  respectfully  yours, 

"J.    KlLPATRICK, 

"  Brig.  Gen'l." 

Many  of  the  wealthy  people  living  in  Savannah  had  gone  to 
the  plantations  on  Taylor's  Creek,  to  escape  Sherman's  troops, 
taking  their  elegant  city  furniture  with  them.  The  Ninety- 
Second  boys  made  saddle  cloths  of  their  beautiful  Brussels  and 
Turkey  carpets.  On  the  sixth,  the  command  started  on  the 
return,  every  trooper  loaded  down  with  corn  for  his  horse,  and 
eatables  for  himself — a  funny  cavalcade.  Many  of  the  men 
loaded  their  horses  so  heavily  with  corn,  hams,  chickens,  turkeys, 
and  sweet  potatoes,  that  the  horses  could  scarcely  stagger  along 
under  their  loads,  the  men  leading  them.  Every  old  wagon,  cart, 
buggy,  sulky,  and  family  carriage  that  could  be  found  in  that 
country,  was  loaded  down ;  and  the  soldiers  had  hitched  to  them 
all  kinds  of  animals.  One  silver  mounted  family  carriage  was 
loaded  inside  and  out,  and  drawn  by  a  little,  old  jackass  and  a 
cow  hitched  together!  A  handsome  one-horse  carriage  was 
drawn  by  a  little  burly  bull!  One  aristocratic  Yankee,  seated  on 
a  well  loaded  ox  cart,  drove  a  handsome  tandum  team — a  poor, 
old,  blind  mule,  led  by  a  stubborn  little  jackass!  To  stop  by  the 
roadside  and  see  the  cavalcade  go  by,  was  better  than  going  to  a 
circus;  and  the  wit  of  the  men,  when  some  soldier's  team  would 
get  to  kicking,  or  his  vehicle  break  down,  was  more  pointed  than 
the  old  saws  of  the  circus  clowns.  The  column  moved  slowly, 
and  bivouaced  that  night  at  King's  Bridge,  and  reached  the  old 
camp,  eight  miles  south  of  Savannah,  at  noon,  on  the  seventh, 
26 


2io  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

with  many  days'  forage  and  rations,  for  men  and  animals.  One 
soldier  wrote  in  his  diary,  in  the  evening:  "  Here  we  are  in  camp 
again,  as  quiet  as  vou  please.  There  was  a  rumor  afloat,  that  we 
will  leave  to-morrow.  I  fixed  up  my  traps,  and  spun  around 
generally."  Sunday,  the  eighth,  was  very  warm.  Many  men  in 
the  Regiment  were  permitted  to  go  to  Savannah.  One  soldier, 
in  his  diary,  wrote:  "I  to-day  visited  Savannah,  with  Captain 
Hawk  and  others.  The  buildings  are  old,  tumble-down  things; 
the  streets,  beds  of  loose  sand ;  I  should  call  the  city  third-class. 
The  troops  are  constructing  lines  of  earthworks  around  the  city, 
so  that  a  small  force  can  hold  it.  I  think  it  very  singular  that 
this  place  yielded  up  so  soon.  One  good  c'orps  of  Yankee  troops 
would  have  held  it  for  weeks  against  the  whole  of  the  Rebel 
armies." 

On  the  twelfth  of  January,  1865,  the  Cavalry  Division  of  Gen- 
eral Kilpatrick  was  reviewed  in  the  streets  of  Savannah,  by  Major 
General  Sherman,  in  the  presence  of  Hon.  Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
Secretary  of  War.  Mr.  Stanton  rode  bv  the  line  in  an  open  car- 
riage, and  sat  in  his  carriage  while  the  column  passed  him  in  re- 
view. On  the  fourteenth  of  January,  orders  were  received  to  pre- 
pare for  a  six  weeks'  campaign  through  the  Carolinas.  Colonel 
Atkins  received,  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  his  commission  of 
Brigadier  General  U.  S.  Volunteers,  by  brevet,  with  a  special 
order  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  assigning  him  to  duty 
with  his  brevet  rank.  He  was  serenaded  by  the  Ninety  Second 
Silver  Cornet  Band,  and  was  congratulated,  in  the  evening,  bv 
the  officers  of  his  Brigade,  in  a  body.  On  Sunday,  the  fifteenth, 
Chaplain  Clark,  of  the  Tenth  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry,  who  was 
taken  prisoner  at  Lovejoy's  Station,  when  the  Division  was  making 
the  raid  around  Atlanta,  August  twentieth,  1864,  preached  an  elo- 
quent sermon,  detailing  his  prison  experience,  which  was  listened 
to  by  nearly  the  entire  Brigade.  The  troops  lay  in  camp,  with 
nothing  to  do;  the  officers  drawing  supplies  of  all  kinds, and  get- 
ting ready  for  the  march.  A  soldier,  on  the  nineteenth,  in  his 
diary,  wrote :  "  Running  horses  seems  to  occupy  the  attention  of 
the  sporting  men  of  the  command  just  now.  I  went  out  to  the 
race  course  and  let  my  mare  run  through  once,  just  to  ascertain 
her  speed,  but  found  she  had  none."  It  rained  several  days  in 
succession,  and  the  horses  were  knee-deep  in  the  soft  soil.  The 
roads  became  so  bad  that  it  required  three  days  for  the  teams  to 
get  to  Savannah,  eight  miles,  and  return,  and,  in  consequence,  the 
merr  were  short  of  rations,  and  the  animals  again  without  forage 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  21 1 

The  swamps  were  almost  impassable,  and  full  of  alligators,  many 
being  killed  by  the  men.  Alligator  steak  is  regarded  by  some 
people  as  a  luxury,  but  the  hungry  soldiers  would  not  eat  alli- 
gator meat.  On  the  twenty-third,  supplies  began  to  come  from 
Savannah  by  rail,  and  the  Ninety-Second  moved  camp  to  be  nearer 
the  railroad.  On  the  evening  of  the  twenty-seventh,  General  Kil- 
patrick  gave  a  party  to  the  officers  of  his  command,  and,  in  his 
speech,  said :  "  In  after  years,  when  travelers  passing  through 
South  Carolina  shall  see  chimney  stacks  without  houses,  and  the 
country  desolate,  and  shall  ask,  'Who  did  this?'  some  Yankee 
will  answer,  '  Kilpatrick's  Cavalry.'  "  On  the  morning  of  January 
twenty-eighth,  1865,  the  march  through  the  Carolinas  began,  the 
Ninety-Second  in  advance.  The  roads  were  almost  impassable. 
Marched  eight  miles,  and  camped  on  the  Springfield  Road. 
Marched  at  sunrise  on  the  twenty-ninth,  twenty  miles,  through 
the  swamps,  and  bivouaced  at  dark,  with  plenty  of  rails  for  fires. 
Marched  at  daylight,  passing  through  Springfield,  a  town  thaUwas 
nearly  all  burned  up  when  Sherman  marched  to  Savannah,  and 
camped  at  Sisters'  Ferry,  on  the  Savannah  River,  where  there 
was  a  large  camp  of  infantry.  Pontoons  were  being  laid  across 
the  Savannah  River.  At  three  o'clock  P.  M.,  a  fleet  of  steamers 
arrived  from  Savannah,  with  supplies  and  the  mails.  On  the 
thirty-first,  the  Regiment  received  orders  to  be  ready  to  march  at 
a  moment's  notice,  with  five  davs'  rations,  and  all  the  ammunition 
each  man  could  carry.  The  road  opposite  Sisters'  Ferry  was  filled 
with  buried  torpedoes  by  the  Rebels.  One  man  was  killed  on  the 
thirty-first  by  the  explosion  of  a  buried  torpedo.  To  fill  country 
roads  with  buried  torpedoes  was  a  new  style  of  warfare,  but  about 
equal  to  South  Carolina  valor.  The  Regiment  lay  in  camp  in  the 
pine  woods,  and,  at  night,  the  fat  pine  knots  lighted  made  flaming 
torches,  and  the  men,  full  of  fun,  fought  a  battle  with  the  fat  pine 
torches  as  weapons.  It  was  a  curious  sight,  beneath  the  sombre 
pine  trees,  and  the  men  enjoyed  the  sport  hugely,  although  some 
of  them  were  severely  burned;  one  man  in  Company  B  had  an 
.eye  nearly  punched  out  by  a  burning  brand.  At  two  P.  M.,  on 
February  third,  General  Atkins's  Brigade  took  the  lead,  crossed 
the  pontoons  over  the  Savannah  River,  and  floundered  through 
the  swamps,  caring  little  for  buried  torpedoes,  and,  by  ten  P.  M., 
had  made  six  miles,  reaching  the  first  dry  land,  where  the  Brigade 
bivouaced.  A  soldier,  in  his  diary,  wrote:  "  Crossed  the  Savan- 
'nah  River,  and  trod  on  the  'sacred'  soil  of  South  Carolina.  I 
rather  expected  that  the  earth  would  open  and  swallow  up  the 


212  NINRTr-SECOKD  ILLINOIS. 

grand  army  of  'mudsills;'  but  it  didn't,  and  we  got  over  the  long 
swamp,  and  found  good  bottom  for  man  and  beast.  I  saw  the 
place  where  once  a  noble,  aristocratic  South  Carolina  mansion 
had  stood ;  and  I  looked,  and  lo,  only  ashes,  charred  timbers,  and 
a  chimney  stack  of  rough  stone  were  left  of  that  grand  mansion, 
and  its  chivalric  owner,  the  noble  South  Carolina  gentleman,  had 
fled  from  our  advance,  not  waiting  to  whip  three  of  the  detested 
Yankees."  Marched  at  ten  A.  M.,  and  passed  through  Roberts- 
ville,  and  camped  at  Lawtonville,  amidst  plenty  for  horses  and 
men  to  eat.  At  night,  the  South  Carolina  skies  gave  back  a  blood- 
red  reflection  from  South  Carolina's  burning  homes.  Started 
early  next  morning,  and  marched  twenty  miles,  to  Allendale; 
forage  and  rations  plenty,  and  the  town,  of  course,  burned  up. 

Marched  early  on  the  sixth  of  February,  General  Atkins's 
Brigade  leading;  and  when  within  two  miles  of  Barnwell,  the 
enemy  was  found  in  strong  position,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
SallSiatchie  River  and  Swamp,  occupying  earthen  rifle  pits.  The 
Ninety-Second  Illinois  was  dismounted,  and  two  companies  of 
the  Ninth  Ohio  Cavalry  were  also  dismounted;  and,  pushing  out 
into  the  swamp,  they  waded  the  Salkhatchie,  and  flanked  the 
enemy  out  of  his  line  of  earthworks.  We  here  learned  that  the 
main  force  of  the  Rebel  cavalry  had  been  awaiting  our  advance, 
at  Barnwell ;  but  our  cavalry  not  showing  itself,  the  Rebel  cavalry 
had,  the  day  previous,  marched  from  Barnwell  toward  Branch- 
ville,  and  the  right  of  Sherman's  army,  leaving  their  heavy 
earthworks  at  the  Salkhatchie  to  be  held  by  about  one  hundred 
men.  The  squad  of  Rebels,  when  they  found  they  were  flanked, 
retreated  on  the  Augusta  Road,  leaving  one  killed  and  three 
wounded.  No  one  hurt  in  the  Ninety-Second.  After  repairing 
the  road  over  the  swamp,  and  rebuilding  the  bridge,  the  command 
marched  into  Barnwell,  and  camped.  All  the  cotton  found  had 
been  burned  up;  but  the  people  of  Barnwell  hit  upon  a  novel  plan 
to  save  their  cotton.  There  had  been  thousands  of  bales  stored 
in  the  town;  it  was  removed  from  the  buildings,  and  scattered,  a 
bale  in  a  place,  in  the  woods  and  fields  all  around  the  town ;  and  it 
had  been  soaked  by  the  rains,  and  would  not  burn.  The  town 
was  burned  up.  Kilpatrick  had  his  head-quarters  at  a  hotel. 
Nero  fiddled  while  Rome  was  burning ;  and  the  jolly  Kilpatrick 
gave  a  grand  ball  in  Barnwell,  while  the  dwellings  of  the  inhabi- 
tants were  lighting  up  the  sky  with  their  flames.  He  sent  out  his 
invitations,  and  the  receivers,  doubtless  regarding  them  as  impera- 
tive orders,  put  in  an  appearance,  and,  like  sad  ghosts,  went 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  213 

through  the  whirling  mazes  of  the  dance.  Kilpatrick's  head- 
quarters were  frequently  set  on  fire  while  the  dance  was  in 
progress.  It  was  the  bitterest  satire  on  social  pleasure  ever 
witnessed. 

The  command  marched  early,  on  February  seventh,  to  Black- 
ville,  a  small  station  on  the  railroad,  between  Charleston  and 
Augusta,  driving  the  enemy,  and  destroying  miles  of  the  railroad. 
Marched  at  noon,  on  the  eighth  of  February,  toward  Augusta,  ten 
miles,  and  bivouaced  at  Williston  Station,  and  destroyed  the  rail- 
road and  several  cars  found  at  the  station.  A  small  force  of 
Rebel  cavalry  fell  back  as  we  advanced,  giving  an  occasional 
'shot,  but  not  fighting  hard.  Marched  at  seven  A.  M.,  on  the 
ninth,  still  toward  Augusta,  and  camped  at  Windsor.  A  soldier, 
in  his  diary,  writes:  "  Goddard  and  Pulver,  of  the  Ninety- 
Second,  out  foraging,  on  returning,  found  themselves  between 
the  Rebel  picket  and  Rebel  camp,  and  put  spurs  to  their  horses, 
killed  one  of  the  Rebel  vedettes,  and  captured  the  other;  but, 
being  hotly  pursued,  they  dropped  their  prisoner,  and  reached 
camp  all  right,  minus  their  forage."  Captain  E.  T.  E.  Becker,  of 
Company  I,  reported  to  Division  head-quarters,  with  fifty  men, 
and  was  ordered,  by  General  Kilpatrick,  to  proceed  to  and  destroy 
the  cotton  mills  near  Augusta,  on  the  Savannah  River,  provided 
he  could  get  by  the  enemy  without  being  discovered.  The  Cap- 
tain marched  first  south  about  four  miles;  then  turned  west,  on  a 
road  running  parallel  with  the  railroad.  When  near  Aiken,  and 
the  men  were  congratulating  themselves  on  their  success  in  evad- 
ing the  enemy,  they  suddenly  ran  upon  one  of  his  picket  posts, 
and  gave  the  Rebels  a  most  lively  run  into  the  town  of  Aiken, 
which  was  found  full  of  Rebels,  in  most  disorderly  disorder. 
The  detail  returned  to  Pole  Cat  Pond,  marching  thirty  miles  in 
going  and  returning.  There  were  no  casualties,  except  that 
Lyman  Gray's  mule  was  shot  through  the  nose.  At  half  past 
twelve  at  night,  Captain  H.  M.  Timms,  of  Company  A,  with  his 
company,  and  Companies  C,  B,  and  D,  dismounted,  accompanied 
by  Captain  D.  L.  Cockley,  A.  A.  D.,  on  General  Atkins's  staff, 
moved  out  through  the  woods  and  fields,  from  our  reserve 
picket  post,  two  miles,  and  came  on  the  road  in  rear  of  the  Rebel 
pickets,  killing  one,  capturing  one,  and  capturing  six  or  eight 
horses,  and  scattering  the  Rebel  picket,  without  loss  to  us.  At 
daylight,  on  February  eleventh,  1865,  General  Atkins's  Brigade, 
leaving  the  Division  at  Pole  Cat  Pond,  marched  toward  Aiken, 
eight  miles  distant.  Two  miles  from  our  picket,  we  struck  the 


214  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

Rebel  picket  post,  and,  at  a  house  by  the  roadside,  just  behind  the 
Rebel  picket,  a  woman  informed  General  Kilpatrick,  who  accom- 
panied the  Brigade,  that  the  Rebel  Generals  Wheeler  and  Cheat- 
ham  had  just  left  her  house.  It  was  thereby  made  evident  that 
Wheeler  and  Hampton's  cavalry  was  again  in  our  front,  with 
Cheatham's  division  of  infantry.  The  Ninetv-Second  was  in 
advance,  and  moved  cautiously,  driving  the  Rebel  picket  ahead 
of  it.  Flanking  parties  were  marching  through  the  woods 
and  fields  on  both  sides  of  the  road.  The  head  of  the  column 
came  within  plain  view  of  the  town  of  Aiken.  Lieutenant 
Henry  C.  Cooling,  of  Company  B,  as  cool  and  brave  an  officer  as 
there  was  in  the  Regiment,  reported  to  General  Atkins  that  he 
had  discovered  long  lines  of  Rebel  cavalry  on  the  right  of  the 
road  in  the  woods  and  fields,  dismounted,  and  holding  their 
horses  by  the  bridle  reins.  The  column  was  halted.  It  was  evi- 
dent that  a  trap  had  been  laid;  and  into  the  jaws  of  that  carefully 
planned  Rebel  trap  the  Brigade  Commander  did  not  care  to  go. 
The  firing  on  the  left  of  the  road  told  plainly  that  our  flankers 
had  struck  the  enemy,  also,  on  the  left.  But  there  was  no  enemy 
on  the  road  between  the  head  of  the  Ninety-Second  and  the  town 
of  Aiken.  Kilpatrick  came  dashing  up  to  the  head  of  the  col- 
umn, and  desired  to  know  the  reason  of  the  halt,  and  it  was 
explained  to  him.  Just  then  a  railroad  locomotive  ran  out  in 
plain  view  near  Aiken,  and  whistled  and  whistled.  Kilpatrick 
stationed  a  section  of  artillery  on  the  road,  and  sent  rifled  shell 
screaming  toward  the  locomotive,  and  into  the  town  of  Aiken. 
Kilpatrick  wanted  to  capture  that  locomotive ;  he  was  assured 
that  its  whistling  was  only  a  part  of  the  trap  the  enemy  had  set, 
and  that  they  would  swing  in  from  both  flanks,  and  surround  any 
force  sent  into  Aiken ;  but  Kilpatrick  ordered  the  Ninetv-Second, 
only  about  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  men  in  line,  as  part  were 
left  on  picket,  and  others  engaged  on  various  details  and  flanking 
parties,  to  charge  into  the  town.  Forward  it  went,  and  met  no 
resistance  in  reaching  the  town ;  the  screaming  locomotive 
ran  to  the  rear;  the  Ninety-Second  was  seen  plainly  entering 
the  town.  There  was  no  firing,  and  General  Kilpatrick  himself 
rode  forward  toward  Aiken. 

General  Atkins  ordered  the  Ninth  Ohio  Volunteer  Cavalry, 
Colonel  William  D.  Hamilton,  into  line  of  battle  on  the  right  ot 
the  road,  flanking  the  section  of  artillery ;  and  the  Ninth  Michi- 
gan Cavalry,  Colonel  George  S.  Acker,  in  line  of  battle,  flanking 
the  artillery  on  the  left  of  the  road,  holding  the  Tenth  Ohio  Cavalry 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  215 

reserve.  Colonel  William  D.  Hamilton,  of  the  Ninth  Ohio,  and 
the  Major  commanding  one  battalion  of  the  Ninth  Michigan, 
were  ordered  to  be  ready  to  charge  into  Aiken  at  the  sound  of  the 
Brigade  bugle ;  and,  on  reaching  Aiken,  and  relieving  any  of  the 
Ninety-Second  still  there,  to  immediately  fall  back  to  the  position 
then  held  by  them.  These  dispositions  had  not  been  completed, 
when  the  enemy's  cavalry  swung  in  from  both  flanks,  and  the 
little  Brigadier,  who  commanded  the  Division,  was  seen  coming 
to  the  rear  as  fast  as  his  horse  could  run,  and  hotly  pursued  by 
forty  or  fifty  Rebels.  As  he  came  within  sight  of  the  line  of  bat- 
tle of  the  Ninth  Ohio  and  Ninth  Michigan,  the  Rebels  were  actu- 
allv  grabbing  for  him,  as  he  hugged  his  horse's  neck,  and  roweled 
his  horse's  flanks  with  his  spurs.  It  was  laughable  in  the  extreme ; 
but  the  Ninth  Ohio  and  Ninth  Michigan  could  not  fire  a  gun  at 
the  enemy,  so  mixed  up  were  the  General  and  his  staff  officers  and 
orderlies  with  the  pursuing  Rebels.  Let  no  one  think  that  this 
reflects  upon  Kilpatrick's  courage;  it  does  not;  he  was  the  bravest 
man  in  all  his  brave  Division.  He  made  a  mistake  when  he  sent 
the  Ninety-Second  into  Aiken,  and  another  mistake  when  he 
himself  rode  toward  the  town,  but  he  made  no  mistake  when  he 
rode  so  rapidly  back  to  the  Brigade.  Kilpatrick  had  now  seen  for 
himself  the  heavy  forces  of  the  enemy — ten  times  the  force  of  the 
Brigade — and  he  ordered  the  artillery  to  the  rear,  and  it  went;  and 
he  ordered  General  Atkins  to  withdraw  with  the  balance  of  his 
Brigade;  but  Atkins  held  his  line^pf  battle  steadily,  resolved  to 
aid  the  Ninety-Second,  if  an  opportunity  offered.  The  officers 
and  men  of  the  Ninety-Second  had  heard  the  shots  on  the  flanks, 
and  felt,  when  the\'  went  forward  into  the  town,  that  they  were 
going  into  a  trap.  They  found  no  enemy  in  the  edge  of  the  town. 
The  Secesh  ladies  waved  their  handkerchiefs  in  welcome,  and 
smilingly  invited  the  officers  and  men  into  their  houses;  but  that 
kind  of  a  welcome  was  unusual  in  South  Carolina,  and  not  an 
officer  or  soldier  accepted  the  seductive  invitation — it  was  an  addi- 
tional evidence  of  danger  to  the  Ninety-Second.  In  the  farther 
edge  of  the  town  of  Aiken  the  enemy's  line  of  skirmishers  was 
found,  and,  at  the  same  instant,  the  Rebels  swung  in  from  both 
flanks,  and  formed  a  perfect  line  of  battle  in  rear  of  the  Ninety- 
Second.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Van  Buskirk,  commanding  the 
Regiment,  quiet,  cool  and  brave,  took  in  the  situation  at  a  glance, 
and,  without  the  least  excitement,  or  confusion,  or  haste,  issued 
his  orders  to  the  Ninety-Second  as  cool,  quiet,  and  brave  as  their 
competent  and  gallant  Lieutenant  Colonel,  and  leaving  Compa- 


2i6  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

nies  K  and  A  engaged  with  the  Rebel  skirmish  line  on  the  farther 
side  of  the  town,  to  hold  them,  he  formed  his  Regiment  for  a 
charge  upon  and  through  the  Rebel  line  of  battle  that  had  been 
formed  in  his  rear.  Every  man  in  the  Regiment  appeared  to  be 
conscious  that  the  only  way  to  escape  was  to  desperately  assault 
the  Rebel  line,  and  cut  a  hole  in  it.  Coolly  the  Regiment  rode 
forward  to  the  charge !  The  Rebel  line  of  battle  stretched  far  oft" 
to  the  right  and  left,  and  the  Rebels,  confident  of  bagging  the 
Regiment,  very  coolly  awaited  the  approach  of  the  comparatively 
little  squad  of  the  Ninety-Second,  until.within  close  range,  when 
the  Rebels  demanded  a  halt  and  surrender,  and  were  answered  by 
every  man  in  the  Regiment  pumping  into  them  the  eight  Spencer 
bullets  in  his  trusty  repeating  rifle;  and  then,  clubbing  their  guns, 
with  a  wild  shout  the  heroic  Regiment  dashed  onto  the  Rebels, 
the  men  wielding  theii*  heavy  rifles,  as  stalwart  Indians  wield 
their  battle-clubs,  knocking  down  and  killing  the  gray-coats  in 
their  way.  It  was  'a  desperate  charge,  and  desperately  the  Ninety- 
Second  men  fought,  face  to  face,  and  hand  to  hand. 

"  Was  there  man  dismayed  ? 
Not  tho'  the  soldier  knew 
Some  one  had  blundered  ; 
Theirs  not  to  make  reply, 
Theirs  not  to  reason  why; 
Theirs  but  to  do  and  die. 
Into  the  V«ley  of  Death 
Rode  the  two  hundred." 

The  men  had  read  the  story  of  the  horrible  sufferings  of  the 
Union  prisoners  in  the  Andersonville  prison  pens;  they  had  seen 
the  men  of  the  Ninety-Second,  who,  surrounded  and  overwhelmed 
bv  the  Rebels  at  Nickojack,  had  surrendered,  and  had  been  inhu- 
manly murdered  by  their  inhuman  captors;  they  knew  that  our 
men  captured  by  Wade  Hampton's  troops  had  been  stripped  of 
clothing,  and  had  their  throats  cut  by  the  roadside;  and,  while  die 
they  might,  and  some  of  them  must,  yet;  the  Ninety-Second, 
while  there  were  three  men  left  to  stand  by  one  another,  would 
not  surrender.  Enveloped  by  the  huge  mass  of  Rebel  cavalry 
surrounding  them,  and  Tiiixed  up  helter-skelter,  gray-coats  and 
blue-coats,  in  a  confused  and  jumbled  crowd,  they  pressed  on  to 
the  Brigade,  and  soon  saw  the  Stars  and  Stripes  floating  over  the 
immovable  line  of  battle  formed  by  the  Ninth  Ohio  and  Ninth 
Michigan  Cavalry,  that  gave  new  courage  to  the  Ninety-Second 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  217 

men  ;  but  those  regiments  could  not  fire  a  shot,  so  mixed  up  were 
the  soldiers  of  the  Ninety-Second  and  the  Rebels — each  claiming 
the  other  prisoner ;  and  on  they  pressed,  close  up  to  the  Brigade 
line  of  battle,  when  the  Rebels  began  halting  and  retreating; 
then  the  Brigade  bugle  rang  out  clearly,  and,  with  a  yell,  the 
Ninth  Ohio  and  one  battalion  of  the  Ninth  Michigan  gallantly 
began  the  charge,  the  men  of  the  Ninety-Second  wheeling  and 
charging  with  them  back  again  toward  the  town  of  Aiken.  The 
charge  of  the  Ninth  Ohio  and  Ninth  Michigan,  with  the  Ninety- 
Second,  was  so  quick  and  prompt  when  the  Ninety-Second  broke 
through  the  Rebel  line,  that  the  Rebels  were  taken  by  surprise, 
and,  in  confusion  and  disorder,  rapidly  gave  the  road  to  the  steady 
line  that  went  forward  toward  and  into  the  town  of  Aiken,  reliev- 
ing the  two  companies  of  the  Ninety-Second,  Companies  A  and 
K,  left  on  picket;  and,  before  the  Rebel  cavalry  could  reform,  the 
three  regiments  had  again  withdrawn  from  the  town,  as  they  had 
been  ordered  to  do,  bringing  out  the  wounded.  Twenty-six  were 
killed  and  wounded  in  the  Ninety-Second,  the  loss  not  being  so 
heavy  in  any  one  of  the  other  regiments  of  the  Brigade.  The 
enemy  buried  eighty  of  his  slain  in  Aiken.  The  Rebels  had  seven 
divisions  of  cavalry, — and  were  supported  by  Cheatham's  division 
of  Rebel  infantry, — had  laid  a  well-planned  trap,  and  the  Ninety- 
Second  had  been  sent  into  it;  but  with  courage  born  of  many  vic- 
torious battles,  the  Regiment  extricated  itself  from  the  toils  of  the 
enemy,  and  turned  into  glorious  victory  what  would  have  been  an 
honorable  surrender,  had  the  Regiment  been  willing  to  have  sur- 
rendered upon  any  terms.  But  the  Brigade  was  yet  nearly  eight 
miles  from  camp,  where  the  balance  of  the  Division  lay  behind 
their  rail  barricades,  and  seven  divisions  of  Rebel  cavalry,  baffled 
and  defeated  at  Aiken,  came  thundering  down  upon  the  four  little 
regiments,  the  Ninety-Second,  the  Ninth  and  Tenth  Ohio,  and 
Ninth  Michigan,  and  the  eight  miles  back  to  camp  was  a  battle- 
field all  the  way.  The  Tenth  Ohio,  a  regiment  that  had  long 
belonged  to  General  Atkins's  Brigade,  and  that  made  so  handsome 
a  charge  at  Bear  Creek  Station,  in  the  very  commencement  of 
the  march  from  Atlanta  to  Savannah,  and  the  gallant  Ninth  Ohio, 
commanded  by  the  brave  and  competent  Hamilton,  were  sent  to 
the  rear  in  column,  on  the  road,  building  barricades  at  suitable 
points  as  they  inarched ;  while  the  Ninety-Second,  under  Lieu- 
tenant Colonel  Van  Buskirk,  who  ought  to  have  been  promoted 
to  Brigadier  General  for  his  gallant  and  cool  management  of  his 
little  command  at  Aiken,  moved  back  in  line  of  battle  on  the  right 
27 


218  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

of  the  road,  and  the  Ninth  Michigan  Cavalry,  armed  with  Spen- 
cer Repeating  Carbines,  commanded  by  Colonel  George  S.  Acker, 
a  cool,  confident  and  brave  cavalry  soldier,  moved  back  in  line  of 
battle  on  the  left  of  the  road.  Time  and  time  again,  the  Rebels, 
in  overwhelming  force,  charged  the  two  regiments,  who  always 
met  them  coolly,  with  murderous  volleys  from  their  Spencer 
Rifles  and  Carbines,  the  two  regiments  together,  many  times,  not 
only  repulsing  the  enemy's  charge,  but  charging  and  routing  them 
in  turn.  And  so  the  little  Brigade  fell  back,  repulsing  every 
assault  of  the  enemy,  and  giving  him  no  time  to  envelop  the 
flanks,  or  reach  the  road  in  rear.  When  Pole  Cat  Pond  was 
reached,  the  Brigade  was  dismounted,  and  took  up  position  behind 
the  rail  barricades.  The  enemvfelt  the  lines  with  his  dismounted 
skirmishers,  but,  even  with  his  overwhelming  numbers,  made  no 
assault.  While  the  Brigade  lay  resting,  with  arms  stacked,  behind 
the  barricades,  Kilpatrick  rode  out  to  the  line  of  battle,  and  wanted 
to  know  why  the  men  were  not  in  line,  and  was  told  there  was  no 
need  of  it;  they  lay  resting  close  by  their  arms,  and  if  an  assault 
was  made,  could  spring  to  arms  instantly ;  but  that  Wheeler  never 
would  assault  a  rail  barricade  after  his  repulse,  near  Buckhead 
Creek,  on  the  Georgia  campaign.  True  it  is,  that  neither  Wheeler 
nor  Hampton  ever  assaulted  a  rail  barricade  after  that  memorable 
defeat;  and  they  did  not  assault  that,  after  they  had  once  seen  it. 
Wheeler  and  Hampton  had  seven  divisions,  but  they  dared  not 
assault  Kilpatrick  in  his  own  chosen  position,  behind  barricades. 
Kilpatrick,  a  brave  and  dashing  cavalry  soldier,  was  as  generous 
as  he  was  brave  and  dashing,  and  personally  complimented  and 
thanked  General  Atkins  for  his  disobedience  to  his  order  in  hold- 
ing his  line  of  battle  with  his  Brigade,  near  Aiken,  and  aiding  the 
Ninety-Second,  and  was  profuse  in  his  praises  of  the  gallantry  of 
the  Regiment. 

During  the  twelfth  of  February,  the  Ninety-Second  lay  behind 
the  barricades,  with  the  Division,  at  Pole  Cat  Pond,  sending  out 
scouting  parties  toward  Aiken,  and  finding  the  enemy's  picket  a 
half  mile  beyond  our  own.  The  infantry  came  up  to  within  five 
miles  of  the  cavalry,  and  spent  the  day  in  effectually  destroying 
the  railroad.  On  the  thirteenth,  the  infantrv  marched  toward  the 
South  Edisto;  and  at  noon,  Kilpatrick's  Cavalry  Division  pulled 
out,  and  camped  at  night,  close  bv  the  infantry,  at  Davis's  Mills, 
on  the  South  Edisto  River,  the  enemy  not  following.  The 
Ninety-Second  men  were  disappointed,  in  not  visiting  Aiken 
again.  They  would  have  liked  to  have  occupied  that  town  for  a 


NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  ug 

few  hours ;  they  would  have  gone  into  the  houses  without  any 
smiling  invitations  from  the  Secesh  ladies;  and  when  they  had 
marched  out  of  the  town,  no  houses  would  have  been  left. 
Marched  at  daylight,  on  the  fourteenth,  twenty  miles,  to  the 
South  Edisto  River.  Reveille  sounded,  at  two  o'clock,  on  the 
morning  of  February  fifteenth;  but  the  enemy  had  cut  a  dam 
above  the  place  where  the  cavalry  was  to  cross  the  river,  flooding 
the  whole  country ;  and  the  Division  did  not  march  until  seven 
A.  M.,  burning  everything  in  the  country  as  it  inarched  along. 
A  brigade  of  Wheeler's  Rebel  cavalrv  was  reported  to  be  march- 
ing on  the  same  road  ahead  of  us,  and  the  balance  of  the  Rebel 
cavalry  on  a  parallel  road  to  our  left,  while  the  Fourteenth  Army 
Corps  was  marching  in  the  same  direction,  on  the  first  par- 
allel road  to  our  right.  Camped  that  night  within  twenty  mile-s 
of  Columbia.  The  country  was  a  dense  pine  forest,  and  forage 
for  animals  and  rations  for  men  very  hard  to  obtain.  Marched  at 
seven  A.  M.,  on  the  sixteenth,  to  Lexington,  South  Carolina, 
twelve  miles,  and  camped  early ;  drew  one  day's  rations  from  the 
wagon  train,  the  first  since  leaving  Sisters'  Ferry.  During  the 
night,  our  picket  was  attacked,  and  the  Division  was  in  line  of 
battle  at  daylight,  but  no  attack  came  in  force.  Marched  at  nine 
A.  M.,  leaving  the  town  of  Lexington  in  flames,  and  crossed  the 
Saluda  River,  on  the  infantry  pontoons,  at  Saluda  Factory;  drew 
two  days'  rations  from  the  wagon  train.  Marched  at  eight  A.  M., 
on  the  eighteenth,  to  Alston,  and  attempted  to  save  the  large 
covered  bridge  across  Broad  River;  but  the  enemy  had  satu- 
rated the  bridge  with  turpentine,  and  fired  it  on  our  approach. 
The  countrv  was  poor,  and  had  been  passed  over  the  day  previous 
by  Cheatham's  division  of  infantry  from  Aiken,  and  Wheeler  and 
Hampton's  cavalry.  Marched  at  sundown,  on  February  nine- 
teenth; but  the  roads  were  so  filled  with  the  infantry  wagon  trains 
that  onlv  four  miles  had  been  made  at  four  A.  M.,  when  the  com- 
mand bivouaced  for  two  hours'  rest.  Started  again,  at  six  A.  M., 
and  was  three  hours  in  marching  three  miles,  to  the  pontoons 
over  Broad  River;  crossed  on  the  pontoons,  and  inarched  five 
miles,  and  halted  one  hour  to  feed  animals;  and  then  inarched 
through  Montecello,  already  on  fire  when  the  Ninety-Second 
passed  through  the  town,  and  camped  at  White  Oak  Station,  on 
the  railroad.  The  country  was  full  of  provisions  and  forage,  and 
many  excellent  horses  and  mules  were  found.  George  Fox,  of 
Company  I,  was  missing  at  roll  call.  Nine  of  the  soldiers  belong- 
ing to  General  Kilpatrick's  Division  were  captured  by  Wade 


220  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

Hampton's  men;  and  the  fiends  cut  the  throats  of  the  Yankee 
prisoners,  and  pinned  upon  them  papers  marked,  "  No  quarter 
for  foragers."  South  Carolina  valor  was  equal  to  the  task  of 
burying  torpedoes  in  the  country  roads;  and  South  Carolina  valor 
was  equal  to  the  cool  and  deliberate  butchery  of  prisoners,  dis- 
armed and  helpless  in  their  hands.  General  Kilpatrick  threatened 
retaliation,  in  a  communication  to  General  Wheeler,  of  the  Rebel 
cavalry;  and  Wheeler  replied,  denying  all  knowledge  of  it,  and 
promising  to  investigate  it,  and  have  the  guilty  punished — but  no 
one  has  ever  heard  of  any  investigation  or  punishment.  The 
Division  marched  at  sunrise,  on  the  twenty-second,  the  Ninety- 
Second  leading,  to  Blackstock  Station,  fed  animals,  and  erected 
barricades.  The  infantry  came  up  and  completely  destroyed  the 
railroad.  Countermarched  two  miles,  and  turned  square  east,  and 
marched  seven  miles,  and  camped  for  night.  Marched  at  day- 
light, on  the  twenty-third,  to  Gladden's  Grove,  through  a  con- 
tinuous rain-storm,  and,  at  dark,  started  for  the  pontoons  over  the 
Catawba  River,  at  Rocky  Mount.  The  roads  were  so  bad,  and 
the  night  so  intensely  dark,  the  rain  pouring  in  torrents,  that 
the  crossing  of  the  river  was  not  effected  until  after  daylight: 
inarched  out  into  the  country  in  advance  of  the  infantry,  and  the 
weary  soldiers,  up  all  night  in  the  pouring  rain,  lay  down  in  the 
mud  and  water  to  rest.  Men  and  animals  were  completely  ex- 
hausted. Two  Union  officers,  almost  naked,  and  gaunt  with 
hunger,  who  had  escaped,  after  having  been  twenty-two  months 
in  a  Rebel  prison  pen,  hailed  our  advance  from  the  bushes  by  the 
roadside,  and  were  warmly  welcomed  by  our  troops.  The  prison- 
ers were  wild  with  joy,  at  feeling  themselves  safe  within  the  lines 
of  the  Union  army  once  more.  Marched  at  noon,  on  the  twenty- 
fourth,  eight  miles,  toward  Lancaster,  the  roads  almost  impassa- 
ble, and  the  rain  still  pouring  down.  Plenty  of  forage  was  found, 
and  the  command  camped  at  dark.  At  daylight,  on  the  twenty-fifth, 
marched  five  miles  to  Lancaster,  without  breakfast,  the  rain  being 
so  heavy  and  continuous  that  fires  could  not  be  built  to  cook  by. 
At  Lancaster,  the  command  went  into  camp.  Again  all  the  extra 
horses  in  the  command  were  killed.  Camped  at  Lancaster,  the 
rain  continuing.  On  Sunday,  February  twenty-sixth,  lay  in 
camp  at  Lancaster,  picketing  Camp  Creek,  five  miles  out,  on  the 
Charlotte  Road,  the  enemy  picketing  the  other  side  of  the  creek. 
Many  animals  were  captured  by  our  scouting  parties.  General 
Atkins  had  his  head-quarters  at  the  residence  of  Dr.  Wylie,  and, 
learning  that  the  Doctor  contemplated  a  visit  to  the  Union  pris- 


NINBTT-SBCOND   ILLINOIS.  221 

oners  held  bv  the  Rebels,  he  gathered  up  a  quantity  of  Confede- 
rate monev,  from  the  Union  soldiers  who  had  escaped  from  the 
Rebel  prisons,  and.  sent  it,  by  Dr.  Wylie,  to  the  Union  soldiers  still 
remaining  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  taking  the  following 
receipt  from  Dr.  Wylie: 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  3D  BRIG.  CAV.  COM'D,  ) 
Lancaster,  S.  C.,  Feb.  26th,  1865.      \ 

•  "  Rec'd  of  Bvt.  Brig.  Gen'l  Smith  D.  Atkins,  U.  S.  Vols., 
Eleven  Thousand  Two  Hundred  and  Eighty-Two  Dollars, 
($11,282)  in  Confederate  Currency,  which  I  agree  to  use  my 
efforts  to  have  conveyed  to  the  U.  S.  prisoners  of  war  at  Char- 
lotte, N.  C.,  or  wherever  they  may  be,  it  being  money  sent  to 
them  by  prisoners  of  the  U.  S.  A.,  who  have  escaped  from  con- 
finement, and  are  now  within  the  lines  of  Sherman's  army. 

"  R.  E.  WYLIE,  M.  D." 

Lay  in  camp  all  day  the  twenty-seventh,  at  Lancaster,  the 
cold  rain  pouring  down  steadily.  General  Kilpatrick  sent  a  flag 
of  truce  to  Wheeler,  at  Camp  Creek,  and  he  and  Wheeler  met, 
and  made  an  informal  arrangement  to  exchange  prisoners  that 
each  might  capture.  The  next  morning,  Kilpatrick  sent  a  squad 
of  the  gray-coats  to  Wheeler,  with  all  their  clothing  and  private 
properly,  and  Wheeler  returned  twenty-two  of  our  men,  who  had 
been  stripped  bare  of  everything.  It  was  a  sad  sight  to  see  them 
marching  into  Lancaster,  in  the  cold  February  storm,  barefooted, 
hatless,  coatless,  pantless,  and  many  with  nothing  but  under- 
shirt and  drawers.  They  did  not  remain  naked  long.  Kilpatrick 
ordered  them  clothed  by  the  citizens,  and  they  were  so  clothed ; 
and  then  they  were  a  funny  looking  lot  of  soldiers,  in  citizens' 
clothing;  some  with  black  broadcloth  spike-tailed  coats  and  plug 
hats!  At  two  P.  M.,  the  command  left  Lancaster,  and  camped 
after  dark  in  the  woods,  at  Gill's  Creek  Church,  where  the  Regi- 
ment remained  on  picket  the  next  day.  The  command  moved 
early,  on  the  second  of  March,  crossed  Lynche's  Creek,  and 
camped  near  the  infantry. 

Marched  at  daylight,  on  the  third  of  March;  roads  very  bad; 
skirmishing  in  front  and  rear  of  the  Division;  marched  eighteen 
miles,  and  camped  eight  miles  from  Wadesboro.  Ordered  to 
inarch  at  daylight,  on  the  fourth,  but  order  was  countermanded 
after  the  command  was  saddled  up.  A  strong  scouting  party  of 
the  Ninth  Michigan  Cavalry  was  sent  toward  Wadesboro,  taking 
with  them  sky-rockets,  to  be  used  as  signals  at  night.  News  was 


222  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

received  of  the  capture  of  Cheraw  by  the  Yanks.  At  noon  the 
enemy  made  a  furious  attack,  very  suddenly,  upon  the  Tenth 
Ohio  Cavalry,  and  drove  that  regiment  out  of  its  camp.  The 
Ninth  Michigan  and  Ninety-Second,  with  their  Spencer  Carbines 
and  Rifles,  repulsed  the  enemy,  and  held  the  cross-roads  until  the 
First  brigade,  that  had  camped  several  miles  in  the  rear,  had  come 
up  and  passed  through  Atkins's  Brigade,  when  the  column  con- 
tinued its  march,  the  Ninety-Second  covering  the  rear,  and  fight- 
ing all  the  way  with  the  Rebel  cavalry  under  Wheeler  and  Hamp- 
ton. Camped  at  dark,  the  Division  of  Kilpatrick's  Cavalry  build- 
ing circular  barricades  all  around  the  Division.  The  enemy  drove 
in  our  pickets  before  dark,  and  by  ten  o'clock  at  night  were  encir 
cling  the  entire  Division,  being  in  front  of  our  barricades  on  all 
sides.  The  Rebel  artillery  was  brought  up,  and  opened  on  the 
house  in  which  Kilpatrick  had  his  head-quarters;  but  the  Yankee 
artillery  soon  silenced  the  Rebel  battery.  Wheeler  and  Hampton 
had  a  very  much  larger  force  than  Kilpatrick;  and,  with  our  pick- 
ets driven  in  before  dark,  and  the  enemy  encircling  our  barri- 
caded position,  it  looked  like  a  battle  at  daylight,  or  before,  and 
the  men  lay  behind  the  barricade  resting  on  their  arms.  Kil- 
patrick was  furnished  with  sky-rockets,  that,  when  high  in  air, 
would  burst,  giving  different  colored  lights.  Had  the  infantry 
columns  been  near  enough,  they  might  have  been  signaled  with 
the  rockets;  but  they  were  not  near.  Kilpatrick  commanded  the 
officer  in  charge  of  his  fireworks  to  send  up  a  lot  of  rockets;  and, 
when  the  officer  desired  to  know  what  information  or  message  he 
wished  to  communicate,  Kilpatrick  told  him  he  wanted  to  scare 
the  Rebel  cavalry;  to  just  send  up  lots  of  rockets  of  all  colors,  and 
have  a  regular  Fourth  of  July  display.  Up  the  rockets  went,  a 
white  one,  then  a  blue  one,  then  a  red  one,  then  two  blue  ones, 
and  so  on,  until  an  answer  came  to  them  from  the  rear  ot  the 
Rebel  cavalry.  We  knew  what  it  meant;  it  was  the  scouting 
party  from  the  Ninth  Michigan  Cavalry,  of  Atkins's  Brigade,  that 
had  been  sent  toward  Wadesboro,  and  whom  we  had  supposed  to 
be  cut  off.  But  the  enemy  didn't  know  what  it  meant.  Rockets 
in  front  of  them,  and  rockets  behind  them — it  might  mean  a  trap 
for  them.  In  a  little  while  we  could  distinctly  hear  them  with- 
drawing their  troops  who  encircled  our  position.  The  fertile  gen- 
ius of  Kilpatrick  had  helped  him  to  avoid  a  battle,  by  his  regular 
Fourth  of  July  display  of  fireworks,  so  luckily  and  opportunely 
answered  by  the  Ninth  Michigan  scouting  party.  Marched  at 
daylight,  three  miles,  when  the  Ninth  Michigan  scouting  party 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  223 

came  in,  and  the  Division  waited  an  hour,  but  the  Rebel  cavalry 
did  not  come  up;  marched  seven  miles,  toward  the  Great  Pedee 
River,  and  camped,  with  plenty.of  forage  and  provisions  in  the 
country  for  the  animals  and  troops.  Marched  at  nine  P.  M., 
March  fifth,  seven  miles,  to  Great  Pedee  River,  and  stood  all 
night  in  column  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  cross  the  pontoons, 
and  until  ten  o'clock  in  the  forenoon  of  March  sixth,  when  an 
order  came  to  unsaddle  and  groom  horses  and  saddle  up  again ; 
and  there  the  column  stood  until  dark,  when  it  commenced  cross- 
ing the  pontoons.  The  river  was  broad  and  swift,  and  there  not 
being  pontoon  boats  sufficient  to  reach  across  the  river,  the  army 
wagon  boxes  were  covered  under  the  bottom  and  sides  with  the 
cotton  cloth  wagon  covers,  and  used  as  pontoon  boats,  there  being 
in  the  bridge  across  the  Great  Pedee  forty-two  wagon-box  pon- 
toons. The  column  camped  late  at  night,  seven  miles  from  the 
Great  Pedee.  Marched  at  daylight,  on  the  seventh  of  March,  and, 
at  noon,  drove  a  squad  of  Rebel  cavalry  out  of  Rockingham,  and 
camped.  Marched  at  seven  A.  M.,  on  the  eighth,  in  a  northerly 
direction  from  Rockingham,  and  was  soon  floundering  in  a  laby- 
rinth of  swamps.  The  artillery  was  dragged  along  by  the  men 
with  ropes,  sometimes  arm -pit  deep  in  the  mud  and  water.  Dur- 
ing the  day  the  advance  and  rear  were  skirmishing  with  the  Rebel 
cavalry,  and  frequent  attacks  were  made  by  the  enemy  on  our 
flanks.  The  enemy  was  not  in  heavy  force;  but,  scattered  out  as 
the  command  was,  floundering  through  the  mud,  the  enemy  had 
a  good  chance  to  annoy  the  column,  and  did  so;  but  was  always 
met  with  as  good  as  he  sent.  The  column  camped  after  dark, 
and  skirmished  all  night  with  the  enemy,  who  appeared  to  be  all 
around  the  command.  The  Ninety-Second  men  slept  on  their 
arms,  ready  for  instant  action.  , 

Marched  at  eight  A.  M.,  on  the  ninth  of  March,  Spencer's 
brigade  leading,  Atkins  next,  and  Jordan  in  rear.  The  roads  were 
in  an  almost  impassable  condition.  Just  before  dark,  General 
Kilpatrick,  waiting  at  a  cross-roads  until  Atkins  came  up,  directed 
Atkins's  Brigade  to  camp  at  a  cross-roads  farther  on,  while  Spen- 
cer's bYigade  camped  at  another  cross-roads  to  the  right,  and 
Jordan's  at  another  cross-roads  in  rear,  the  three  brigades  en- 
camped forming  a  triangle,  General  Kilpatrick  camping  with 
Spencer,  on  the  Fayetteville  road.  Before  the  head  of  Atkins'* 
Brigade  reached  the  designated  camping  ground,  long  lines  of 
fires  were  observed  in  the  woods.  The  Ninety-Second  was  in  the 
advance;  the  column  was  halted,  and  the  position  silently  recon- 


324  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

noitered.  A  squad  on  foot  approached  the  house  Atkins  had 
been  directed  to  occupy  as  his  head-quarters,  at  the  cross-roads, 
and  found  the  Rebel  cavalry  surrounding  it.  To  be  perfectly 
certain,  Sergeant  Bashaw  and  two  men  went  inside  of  the  Rebel 
lines,  and  learned  that  General  Hampton  had  his  head-quarters  at 
the  house,  and  the  Rebel  cavalry  was  going  into  camp  all  around 
it.  The  r^ad  on  which  the  Ninety-Second  approached  the  Rebel 
camp  had  not  yet  been  picketed  by  the  enemy ;  but  the  Rebel 
picket  was  preparing  to  come  out  and  picket  that  road.  The 
Ninety-Second  men  were  ordered  to  hold  their  fire,  and  let  the 
Rebel  picket  pass  up  the  road  unmolested ;  but  the  Rebels  dis- 
covered the  Regiment,  and  fired,  and  the  Ninety-Second  sent  a 
volley  from  their  Spencers  into  the  Rebel  picket,  which  quicklv 
retreated.  The  Rebel  bugles,  blowing  "  boot  and  saddle,"  made 
the  woods  echo,  and  ring  with  their  bugle  notes.  Leaving  the 
Ninety-Second  to  hold  the  road,  the  Brigade  turned  around,  with 
its  trains  and  ambulances,  and  marched  back  to  the  cross-roads 
where  General  Kilpalrick  had  left  it,  and  gone  to  join  Spencer's 
brigade,  toward  Fayetteville.  The  Rebels  made  a  strong  attack 
upon  the  Ninety-Second,  but  were  repulsed. 

The  Brigade  then  followed  after  Kilpatrick,  hoping  to  make  a 
junction  with  him.  The  flankers  on  the  left  found  that  the  Rebel 
cavalry  was  marching  toward  Fayetteville  on  a  parallel  road,  not 
more  than  half  a  mile  distant,  and  the  Brigade  pushed  on  rapid!  v 
to  reach  the  cross-roads  ahead  of  the  Rebel  column,  if  possible. 
The  cross-roads  were  reached,  where  it  was  expected  Spencer 
would  be  found  encamped,  but  his  brigade  had  gone  on  beyond 
the  cross-roads,  toward  Favetteville.  Atkins's  Brigade  pushed  on 
toward  Fayetteville,  and,  when  a  mile  farther  advanced  on  that 
road,  a  Rebel  officer  qime  riding  back,  cursing  the  column  for  not 
hurrying  up — he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  proved  to  be  a  start" 
officer  on  the  Rebel  General  Wheeler's  start".  Three  divisions  of 
Rebel  cavalry  were  already  on  the  road  ahead  of  Atkins's  Brig- 
ade, and  between  it  and  Spencer's;  and,  following  on  the  same 
road,  were  four  divisions  more  of  Rebel  cavalry,  and  to  hurry  them 
up  the  captured  Rebel  officer  was  riding  to  the  rear,  and;  in  the 
darkness,  had  mistaken  Atkins's  column  for  a  column  of  Rebels. 
We  had  just  filled  the  gap  in  the  Rebel  column.  Wheeler,  with 
three  divisions  of  Rebel  cavalry,  was  just  ahead  of  us,  on  that 
same  road,  and  Hampton,  with  four  divisions  "of  Rebel  cavalrv, 
was  closing  up  in  the  rear  of  us.  A  section  of  artillery  was  planted 
at 'the  cross-roads,  and  the  Ninth  Michigan  Cavalry  was  dis- 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  225 

mounted,  with  orders  to  hold  the  road;  and  the  column  again 
turned  around.  The  Ninety-Second,  left  holding  the  rear,  was 
attacked,  but  held  the  enemy  at  bay.  The  Brigade,  pressing  in  a 
frightened  lady  as  a  guide,  withdrew  from  the  road,  on  a  blind 
road  running  to  another  Fayetteville  road  farther  south.  The 
artillery  and  Ninth  Michigan  were  withdrawn ;  and  the  Ninety- 
Second,  still  acting  as  rear  guard,  the  Brigade  pushed  hard, 
hoping  to  pass  around  the  Rebels,  and  join  Kilpatrick  before  day- 
light. Just  before  daylight,  a  stream  was  reached  that  had  to  be 
bridged;  and  a  bridge  was  constructed  of  pine  trees  and  rails,  so 
long  as  to  require  the  length  of  several  pine  trees  as  stringers.  A 
report  came  that  the  enemy,  in  strong  force,  was  following;  and 
the  Ninety-Second  built  barricades,  on  the  hill  near  the  creek,  to 
hold  the  rear.  The  building  of  the  bridge  went  rapidly  forward. 
An  old  road  led  through  the  swamp  and  stream,  that  had,  at  one 
time,  been  corduroyed  with  pine  poles,  covered  with  sand,  to 
keep  them  upon  the  bottom ;  but  the  road  had  been  many  years 
unused,  and,  in  many  places,  the  corduroy  had  been  washed  out. 
Not  a  wheel  could  be  taken  across  without  a  bridge.  Forty  pio- 
neers, with  axes,  were  set  at  wdrk,  cutting  down  the  tall  pine 
trees  that  grew  close  by.  Five  hundred  men  were  sent  to  bring 
rails  for  flooring.  One  hundred  men  were  sent  to  an  old  straw 
stack,  to  bring  straw  to  cover  over  the  loose  rails,  so  that  they 
would  not  roll  and  break  as  the  animals  trod  upon  them.  Some 
of  the  trees  were  immediately  cut  into  eight  foot  lengths,  and 
split,  and  with  them  two  hundred  men  waded  into  the  stream, 
and  built  six  piers,  corn-cob-house  fashion,  the  men  holding 
the  timbers  down  under  the  water,  as  placed,  until  the  piers 
rose  above  the  water,  and,  the  men  still  holding  them,  the 
heavy  pine  trees  for  stringers,  notched  so  that  they  would  not 
roll,  were  placed  upon  the  piers — the  men  still  holding  and  steady- 
ing the  piers,  the  loose  rails  were  laid  thickly  upon  the  stringers, 
forming  the  floor,  and  over  the  rails  spread  thickly  the  loose  straw. 
In  less  'than  an  hour,  the  long  bridge  was  completed ;  and  the 
cavalry,  ambulances  loaded  with  wounded  men,  wagon  trains, 
ammunition  trains,  and  artillery  were  safely  over;  and  then  the 
men  holding  the  piers  and  steadying  the  bridge,  leaped  into  the 
water  on  the  upper  side,  and  pushed  the  bridge  over,  and  floating 
oft"  down  stream  went  the  dry  rails,  and  straw,  and  cob-house 
piers; and  just  as  the  first  streaks  of  light  appeared,  as  the  bridge 
floated  oft"  down  stream,  the  roar  of  artillery  and  musketry  on 
our  left  told  us  that  the  Rebel  cavalry  had  struck  Spencer's 
28 


226  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

brigade.  Atkins's  Brigade  pushed  on  through  labyrinths  of 
swamps,  almost  impassable,  and,  at  last,  reached  the  other  Fay- 
etteville  road,  where  the  result  of  the  Rebel  attack  on  Spencer's 
brigade  was  learned,  and  the  fact  that  the  fight  was  over,  and  the 
Rebels  repulsed,  authenticated,  whan  the  Brigade  halted  and  fed 
animals.  Near  noon,  Jordan's  brigade  came  up.  Spencer's 
brigade,  in  the  afternoon,  also  withdrew  to  the  road  Atkins's 
Brigade  was  then  on,  and  the  Division  was  all  together  again. 
The  following  is  General  Kilpatrick's  official  report: 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS,  CAVALRY  COMMAND,  \ 
In  the  Field,  March  u,  1865.      |" 

"  MAJOR  DAYTON  : 

'•'•Major:  You  will  remember  that  I  stated  in  mv  last  com- 
munication, from  Solemn  Grove,  that  Hardee  was  marching 
rapidly  for  Fayetteville,  but  that  Hampton  and  Wheeler  were  still 
in  the  rear,  and  that  I  would  endeavor  to  cut  them  off.  The 
information  was  correct.  Hampton,  however,  was  found  moving 
upon  two  roads — the  Morgan  town  Road,  and  a  road  three  miles 
farther  to  the  north,  and  parallel  to  it,  just  south  and  east  of  Sol- 
emn Grove.  I  posted  upon  each  road  a  brigade  of  cavalry,  and, 
learning  that  there  was  a  road  still  farther  north,  upon  which  some 
of  the  enemy's  troops  might  move,  I  made  a  rapid  night's  march, 
with  Colonel  Spencer's  little  brigade  of  three  regiments,  and  four 
hundred  dismounted  men,  and  one  section  of  artillery,  and  took 
post  at  the  point  where  the  road  last  mentioned  intersects  the 
Morgantown  Road.  During  the  forepart  of  the  evening,  I  left 
General  Atkins,  and  joined  Colonel  Spencer  with  my  staff,  and 
actually  rode  through  one  of  General  Hampton's  divisions  of  cav- 
alry, which,  by  eleven  P.  M.,  had  flanked  General  Atkins,  and 
was  then  encamped  within  three  miles  of  Colonel  Spencer.  Mv 
escort,  of  fifteen  men,  and  one  officer  were  captured,  but  I  escaped 
with  my  staff. 

"  General  Atkins  and  Colonel  Jordan  discovered,  about  nine 
P.  M.,  that  while  the  enemy  was  amusing  them  in  front,  Hampton 
was  posting  with  his  main  torce  on  a  road  to  Atkins's  right. 
These  officers  at  once  pulled  out,  and  made  every  effort  to  join 
me  before  daylight,  but  failed  to  do  so,  owing  to  bad  roads  and  the 
almost  incessant  skirmishing  with  the  enemy,  who  was  marching, 
and,  at  some  points,  not  a  mile  distant.  Hampton  had  marched 
all  day,  and  rested  his  men  about  three  miles  from  Colonel  Jor- 
dan's position,  at  two  A.  M.,  and  just  before  daylight  charged  my 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  227 

position  with  three  divisions  of  cavalry — Hume's,  Allen's  and 
Butler's. 

"  Hampton  led  the  center  division,  Butler's,  and  in  less  than  a 
minute  had  driven  back  my  men,  taken  possession  of  my  head- 
quarters, captured  my  Aids,  and  the  whole  command  was  flying 
before  the  most  formidable  cavalry  charge  I  ever  have  witnessed; 
Colonel  Spencer,  and  a  large  portion  of  my  staff",  were  virtually 
taken  prisoners.  On  foot,  I  succeeded  in  gaining  the  cavalry 
command,  a  few  hundred  yards  in  the  rear,  and  found  the  men 
fighting  with  the  Rebels  for  their  camp  and  animals,  and  they 
were  soon  finally  forced  back  some  five  hundred  yards  farther,  to  a 
swamp,  impassable  to  friend  or  foe. 

"  The  enemy,  eager  for  plunder,  failed  to  promptly  follow  us 
up.  We  rallied,  and  at  once  advanced  on  the  foe.  We  retook  the 
cavalry  camp,  and,  encouraged  by  our  success,  charged  the  enem  v, 
who  were  endeavoring  to  harness  up  my  battery  horses,  and 
plundering  my  head-quarters.  We  retook  the  artillery,  turned  it 
upon  the  forces  about  my  head-quarters,  not  twenty  steps  distant, 
and  finally  forced  him  out  of  my  camp,  with  great  slaughter." 

To  this  official  report  of  General  Kilpatrick,  we  can  add  that, 
Dr.  Clinton  Helm,  of  the  Ninety-Second,  Acting  Medical  Director 
of  the  Cavalry,  was  one  among  several  Union  officers  who  were 
sleeping  in  the  second  story  of  the  house  occupied  by  General 
Kilpatrick  as  his  head-quarters;  and,  after  the  enemv  had  captured 
the  camp  of  Spencer's  brigade,  and  were  swarming  around 
the  house,  they  were  about  to  descend  and  surrender,  when  thev 
heard  a  Rebel  soldier,  who  had  been  stationed  as  a  guard  at  the 
house,  order  another  Rebel  soldier,  who  came  into  the  house,  and 
had  to  go  up  stairs  to  go  out  of  the  house,  the  guard  saving  that 
General  Hampton  had  taken  that  house  as  his  head-quarters,  and 
had  ordered  that  nothing  in  it  be  disturbed.  The  Union  officers 
kept  still,  and  waited  for  something  to  turn  up.  From  the  win- 
dows, they  could  plainly  see  the  Rebels  plundering  the  camps.  . 
At  Savannah,  four  hundred  dismounted  men  had  turned  over 
their  carbines,  and  drawn  Springfield  muskets,  with  bavonets, 
and,  under  the  command  of  Lieutenant  Colonel  Stough,  of  the 
Ninth  Ohio  Cavalry,  of  Atkins's  Brigade,  were  marching  with 
the  cavalry  wagon  trains.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Stough  was  :i  brave 
and  cool  officer;  he  had  camped  his  dismounted  men  beyond  the 
swamp  mentioned  by  Kilpatrick  in  his  report;  and  when  the- 
Rebels  made  the  attack,  Colonel  Stough  formed  his  men,  and 
marched  them  toward  the  house  occupied  by  Kilpatrick  as  head- 


228  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

quarters;  and  when  the  Rebels  saw  that  column  of  dismounted 
men,  under  Colonel  Stough,  with  their  long  Springfield  muskets 
and  bright  bayonets  gleaming  in  the  morning  sunlight,  they 
mistook  it  for  the  Fourteenth  corps  of  infantry,  and,  setting  up 
the  cry,  plainly  heard  by  the  Union  officers  in  the  second  story  of 
the  house,  "  The  Fourteenth  corps !  the  Fourteenth  corps!!"  the 
Rebels  hastily  beat  a  retreat.  The  Rebels  knew  that  the  Four- 
teenth corps  of  Sherman's  army  was  marching  on  a  road  to  the 
right,  and  supposed  that  Colonel  Stough's  advancing  column  of 
dismounted  men  was  a  portion  of  the  Fourteenth  corps  that  was 
approaching.  Colonel  Stough  deserves  great  praise  for  his  cool- 
ness and  good  sense,  in  displaying  his  little  command  so  oppor- 
tunely, and  the  cavalry  under  Kilpatrick  deserve  high  praise,  for 
taking  advantage  of  the  panic  among  the  Rebels,  occasioned  by 
Colonel  Stough,  and  joining  with  him,  and  retaking  their  camps. 
Colonel  Spencer  was  among  the  officers  in  the  second  story  of 
the  house,  and  saw  the  soldiers  of  his  little  brigade  scattered,  and 
saw  them  again  rally  and  retake  their  camps,  and  release  from 
his  singular  position  their  Brigade  Commander.  Sergeant  T.  M. 
Hawk,  of  Company  C,  who  was  Division  Ordnance  Sergeant, 
assisted  the  gallant  Stetson  in  firing  the  first  shot  at  the  enemy 
from  the  retaken  Union  artillery.  It  was  said  that  the  enemy's 
loss  was  severe,  he  having  left  upon  the  field  one  General  officer, 
two  Colonels,  and  over  one  hundred  men  killed,  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  his  wounded.  Near  sundown,  on  the  tenth  of  March,  the 
Cavalry  Division  under  Kilpatrick  marched  toward  Favette- 
ville,  the  Rebels  attacking  the  left  flank  frequently  during  the 
night's  march;  they  appeared  to  be  small  parties  of  the  enemy, 
who  would  approach  the  road  the  column  was  marching  on,  and 
fire  into  it,  and  retreat.  The  column  bivouaced  about  midnight, 
and  marched  early,  on  the  eleventh,  to  within  one  mile  of  Fay- 
etteville,  and  then  marched  out  on  the  Raleigh  Road,  and  camped. 
The  enemy  had  burned  the  bridge  across  the  Cape  Fear  River,  at 
Fayetteville,  and  pontoons  had  to  be  laid  by  the  infantry  columns. 
The  Ninety-Second  lay  in  camp  near  Fayetteville,  on  the  twelfth; 
the  country  was  poor,  and  forage  for  animals  scarce.  A  tug-boat 
came  up  from  Wilmington,  bringing  the  mails.  Drew  one  day's 
rations,  on  the  thirteenth,  and  the  Regiment  lay  in  camp,  most  of 
the  men  writing  letters  to  send  home,  by  the  tug-boat,  down  the 
Cape  Fear  River  to  Wilmington.  Beautiful  day  on  the  fourteenth 
of  March ;  lay  in  camp,  and  drew  two  days'  rations  of  hard-tack. 
On  March  fifteenth,  1865,  the  Ninety-Second  broke  camp,  at 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  229 

half  past  twelve  in  the  morning,  and  moved  out  with  the  Brigade 
and  Division,  and  marched  down  through  Fayetteville,  reaching 
Cape  Fear  River,  and  crossing  the  pontoon  just  after  daylight. 
The  Division,  Atkins's  Brigade  leading,  pushed  rapidly  up  the 
Cape  Fear  River  toward  Raleigh.  When  within  a  few  miles  of 
Averysboro,  the  advance  struck  the  enemy  in  considerable  force. 
Colonel  Acker,  of  the  Ninth  Michigan  Cavalry,  in  the  advance, 
dismounted  his  regiment,  and  drove  the  enemy  over  a  swamp, 
and  reported  that  he  was  fighting  infantry,  whose  skirmish  line 
was  much  longer  than  his  regiment.  General  Atkins  sent  scouts 
out  to  the  Cape  Fear  River,  to  learn  if  the  enemy's  line  of  battle 
rested  on  the  river.  The  scouts  found  that  the  enemy's  line  did 
not  extend  to  the  river ;  the  scouts  passed  around  the  Rebel  line  of 
battle,  and  behind  it;  and,  seeing  an  officer  on  horseback,  some 
distance  in  rear  of  the  enemy's  line,  the  scouts,  dressed  in  butter- 
nut clothing,  rode  up  to  the  officer,  who  mistook  them  for  some 
of  his  own  mounted  troops,  and  began  cursing  because  the  Rebel 
cavalry  did  not  hurry  up  and  pass  the  point  he  was  guarding, 
when  the  scouts  quietly  informed  him  that  they  belonged  to  Kil- 
patrick's  cavalry,  and  that,  if  he  wished  to  save  his  life,  he  must 
quietly  move  along  with  them ;  and  they  brought  him  around  the 
flank  of  his  own  skirmish  line  to  General  Atkins.  The  Rebel 
officer  proved  to  be  Colonel  Barnwell  Rhett,  of  the  First  South 
Carolina  heavy  artillery,  who,  with  his  regiment,  had  garrisoned 
Fort  Sumter,  in  Charleston  Harbor,  until  Sherman's  movements 
had  dictated  its  evacuation.  It  was  his  regiment  of  heavy  artillery, 
armed  with  muskets,  that  Acker  was  fighting.  In  our  immediate 
front  was  the  Rebel  infantry.  Information  was  sent  at  once  to 
General  Kilpatrick,  in  rear  of  the  column,  and  he  was  soon  at  the 
head  of  his  Division.  We  quote  the  following  from  a  book 
published  in  New  York,  by  W.  J.  Widdleton,  in  1865 : 

"  The  Ninth  Michigan  soon  became  hotly  engaged  with  the 
enemy,  and,  by  splendid  fighting,  held  him  in  check  until  Kil- 
patrick had  taken  up  a  strong  position,  dismounted,  with  his 
flanks  resting  upon  the  ravine,  and  his  front  fortified  with  rails, 
brush  and  timber.  Meanwhile,  Aide  after  Aide  had  been  dis- 
patched to  General  Sherman,  six  miles  in  the  rear,  for  infantry 
reinforcements.  The  enemy,  having  deployed  his  lines,  finally 
advanced,  driving  the  Ninth  Michigan  Cavalry  back  into  the 
woods.  But  now,  the  rapid  and  destructive  fire  from  Captain 
Bebee's  artillery,  soon  forced  him  to  halt,  and,  finally,  to  fall  back 
under  cover  of  a  ravine  a  thousand  vards  distant.  It  was  now 


330  NINBTT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

dark,  and  our  troops  rested  upon  their  arms.  During  the  night,  a 
brigade  of  infantry  came  up,  and,  with  his  cavalry  and  this  force, 
General  Kilpatrick  moved  forward  in  line  of  battle  at  daylight, 
the  infantry  having  the  centre,  a  strong  force  of  cavalry,  under 
Colonels  Jones  and  Spencer,  moving  upon  either  flank,  while  the 
artillery,  and  a  majority  of  the  cavalry,  under  General  Atkins, 
held  the  rear.  Kilpatrick  had  not  moved  a  mile  from  out  his 
works,  when  the  pickets  of  the  enemy  were  encountered,  and 
driven  in,  and  in  a  few  minutes  his  whole  skirmish  line  became 
engaged,  telling  him  that  he  had  met  the  enemy  in  force.  He 
extended  his  lines  upon  the  right  and  left,  and  soon  forced  the 
enemy  in  upon  his  line  of  battle,  and  drawing  the  fire  of  his 
artillery. 

"  The  enemy,  believing  that  cavalry  alone  was  making  the  at- 
tack, took  the  offensive,  and  moved  from  right  to  left,  and  rapidly 
bore  down  upon  the  cavalry  under  Colonel  Jones,  who  held  the 
right.  This  movement  was  discovered  in  sufficient  time  to  re- 
inforce the  right,  and  Colonel  Jordan,  with  his  cavalrv  brigade, 
reached  the  point  threatened  before  the  attack  was  made,  and,  with 
Colonel  Jones,  and  his  command,  dismounted,  handsomely  re- 
pulsed three  determined  charges,  and  finally  forced  the  enemy 
back  and  into  his  line  of  works. 

"  In  the  meantime,  Kilpatrick  had  thoroughly  reconnoitered 
the  entire  position,  and  had  sent  for,  and  received,  a  second 
brigade  of  infantry,  which  was  pushed  in  upon  our  left,  with  in- 
structions to  carry  the  enemy's  works  upon  his  right.  While 
this  was  being  done,  the  enemy  again  moved  out  of  his  works, 
and  furiously  attacked  the  cavalry  on  the  right.  General  Atkins 
was  now  brought  up,  and  pushed  in  to  the  assistance  of  Colonel 
Jordan.  At  this  moment  the  shout  of  the  infantry,  upon  the 
left,  as  they  rushed  forward  to  storm  the  enemy's  works,  was 
heard.  A  general  advance  was  at  once  ordered,  and  the  emeny  was 
driven  back  at  all  points,  over  and  out  of  his  first  line  of  works, 
with  the  loss  of  three  pieces  of  artillery,  and  many  prisoners. 
The  Twentieth  corps,  under  General  Williams,  had,  in  the  mean- 
time, came  up,  as  well  as  a  portion  of  the  Fourteenth,  General 
Davis,  and  under  the  personal  direction  of  Major  General 
Slocum,  commanding  the  left  wing,  was  sent  forward  into  posi- 
tion, and  steadily  pressed  the  enemy  back,  until  late  in  the  night, 
when,  under  cover  of  the  darkness,  he  retreated  toward  Raleigh. 

"In  this  engagement  (i6th  of  March)  the  cavalry  fought  side 
by  side  with  our  infantry,  mounted  and^lismounted,  and  behaved 


NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  231 

most  gallantly.  Charge  after  charge  of  the  enemy's  infantry 
was  repulsed,  and  Colonel  Jones,  of  the  Eighth  Indiana  Cavalry, 
actually  rode  over  the  enemy's  works,  losing  one-third  of  his 
entire  command.  Our  cavalry,  on  this  day,  won  the  admiration 
of  the  entire  army. 

"  During  the  night  Kilpatrick  withdrew  his  command,  crossed 
Black  River,  and  moved  off  upon  the  Smithfield  Road,  to  the  left 
and  front  of  the  main  army,  now  moving  on  Goldsboro.  The 
following  day,  Lieutenant  General  Johnston  evacuated  Goldsboro, 
and  massed  his  forces  at  the  little  town  of  Bentonsville,  on  Mill 
Creek,  midway  between  Raleigh  and  Goldsboro,  and  there,  be- 
hind strong  intrenchments,  resolved  to  dispute  the  further  ad- 
vance of  Sherman's  victorious  columns." 

It  was  GeneralSherman's  order  that  the  cavalry  should  not  in- 
terfere with  the  inarch  of  the  infantry  columns,  the  infantry  always 
having  the  right  to  the  road;  on  the  evening  of  the  seventeenth, 
Atkins's  Brigade,  having  to  cross  a  road  filled  with  a  corps  of 
infantry  marching,  the  Brigade  was  closed  up  in  mass  in  column  of 
regiments,  and,  throwing  down  the  fences  on  both  sides  of  the 
road,  the  Brigade  awaited  a  break  in  the  infantry  column,  when, 
taking  advantage  of  such  a  break,  the  Brigade  moved,  in  mass, 
across  the  road,  without  interrupting  the  march  of  the  infantry 
column.  The  command  camped  near  a  mill  filled  with  corn, 
from  which  the  Rebels  were  driven,  and  the  corn  used  as  forage 
for  the  animals.  The  command  marched  at  seven  A.  M.,  on  the 
eighteenth.  About  noon  one  regiment  passed  over  a  difficult 
swamp,  and  was  followed  by  a  section  of  artillery,  that  was  con- 
siderably behind  the  regiment  after  crossing  the  swamp,  and  the 
enemy  made  a  dash  from  the  flank,  and  temporarily  captured  the 
artillery.  It  was  immediately  retaken,  and  the  enemy  driven 
off.  After  the  command  had  camped,  a,t  night,  two  men  were 
shot  while  foraging,  and  the  enemy  appeared  to  be  all  around  the 
command.  Marched  early,  on  the  morning  of  the  nineteenth,  in 
rear  of  the  infantry.  The  Fourteenth  Army  Corps  was  attacked 
furiously  near  Bentonsville,  by  troops  under  Johnston,  and  the 
army  was  deployed,  the  Ninety-Second,  with  the  Division  and 
Brigade,  closing  up  on  the  left  of  Slocum's  army,  being  on  the 
left  of  Williams's  corps,  heavily  barricaded.  Lay  in  camp  on  the 
twentieth,  in  fortified  position,  on  the  left  of  Williams's  corps. 
There  was  considerable  fighting,  by  the  infantry,  Johnston  attack- 
ing. On  the  twenty-first,  the  Brigade  changed  position  a  little, 
erecting  new  barricades,  st|£  holding  the  extreme  left  of  the  army. 


232  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

During  the  night,  the  Twentieth  Army  Corps  was  moved  to  the 
right  of  the  army,  General  Atkins's  Brigade  holding  the  Corps 
front.  All  of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  and  Ninth  Michigan 
Cavalry  were  dismounted,  and  deployed  as  skirmishers  in  front  of 
the  empty  rifle  pits  of  Williams's  corps.  At  daylight,  the  skir- 
mishers pushed  out,  and  soon  discovered  that  there  was  no  enemy 
in  front  of  the  Brigade,  and  it  mounted  and  pushed  rapidly  to- 
ward Bentonsville,  capturing  nearly  all  of  the  First  Regiment 
South  Carolina  Heavy  Artillery,  that  had  been  left  on  picket  near 
Bentonsville,  and,  instead  of  fighting,  stacked  arms  and  surrendered. 
The  Tenth  Ohio  Cavalry,  of  General  Atkins's  Brigade,  went 
into,  and  beyond,  the  town, of  Bentonsville,  to  Mill  Creek;  the 
enemy  having  destroyed  the  bridge  across  the  creek,  the  pursuit 
here  ended.  The  enemy  had  withdrawn  in  great  haste,  leaving 
his  dead  unburied,  and  his  wounded  uncared  for.  The  day  was 
spent  in  caring  for  the  wounded  and  burying  the  dead.  Marched 
at  sunrise,  on  the  twenty-third,  and  camped  within  one  mile  of 
the  village  of  Clinton,  forage  plenty,  and  plenty  for  the  men  to 
eat.  Lay  in  camp  near  Clinton  on  the  twenty-fourth,  sending 
out  heavy  scouting  parties,  and  details  for  forage  and  provisions. 
On  this  day  the  following  orders  were  received  and  read  to  the 
men: 

"  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
In  the  Field,  March  22,  1865.      f 

"  SPECIAL  FIELD  ORDERS,  ) 
No.  35.  )• 

"  The  General  commanding  announces  to  this  army,  that  it 
beat,  on  its  chosen  ground,  the  concentrated  armies  of  our  enemy, 
who  has  fled  in  disorder,  leaving  his  dead,  wounded,  and  prisoners 
in  our  hands,  and  burning  his  bridges  on  his  retreat. 

"  On  the  same  day,  Major  General  Schofield,  from  Newburn, 
entered  and  occupied  Goldsboro,  and  Major  General  Terry,  from 
Wilmington,  secured  ^Cox's  Bridge  crossing,  and  laid  a  pontoon 
bridge,  so  that  our  campaign  has  resulted  in  a.  glorious  success, 
after  a  march  of  the  most  extraordinary  character,  near  five  him 
dred  miles,  over  swamps  and  rivers  deemed  impassable  to  others, 
at  the  most  inclement  season  of  the  year,  and  drawing  our  chief 
supplies  from  a  poor  and  wasted  country. 

"  I  thank  the  army,  and  assure  it  that  our  Government  and 
people  honor  them  for  this  new  display  ot  physical  and  moral 
qualities,  which  reflect  honor  upon  th^whole  nation. 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  233 

"  You  shall  now  have  rest,  and  the  supplies  that  can  be 
brought  from  the  rich  granaries  and  storehouses  of  our  mag- 
nificent country,  before  again  embarking  on  new  and  untried 
dangers.  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 

"  Major  General  Commanding. 

"  Brevet  Major  General  J.  KILPATRICK." 

The  following  congratulatory  circular  letter  was  received  from 
General  Kilpatrick : 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  CAVALRY  COMMAND,  \ 
In  the  Field,  March  22,  1865.      f 
"  (CIRCULAR)  : 

"  The  campaign  is  over,  and  we  are  promised  rest.  Our  depot 
will  be  at  Mount  Olive,  and  a  railroad  shall  be  at  the  disposal  of 
officers  and  men.  Every  liberty  shall  be  granted  consistent  with 
the  best  interests  of  our  cause,  for  which  I  feel  in  my  heart  the 
invincible  soldiers  of  my  command  have  done  so  much.  This 
day  I  met  our  great  Chief  on  the  field  of  battle,  amid  the  dead 
and  dying  of  our  enemy,  who  has  again  fled  before  our  proud, 
advancing  banners,  and  my  ears  were  made  to  tingle  with  the 
grateful  words  of  praise,  spoken  in  admiration  of  the  cavalry. 

"  Soldiers,  be  proud!  Of  all  the  brave  men  of  this  army,  you 
have  a  right  to  be.  You  have  won  the  admiration  of  our  infantry, 
fighting  on  foot,  and  mounted,  and  you  will  receive  the  outspoken 
words  of  praise  from  the  great  Sherman  himself. 

"  He  appreciates   and    will   reward   your  patient  endurance  of 
hardships,  gallant  deeds,  and  valuable  services. 

"  With  the  old  laurels  of  Georgia,  entwine  those  won  in  the 
Carolinas,  and  proudlv  wear  them! 

"  General  Sherman  is  satisfied  with  his  cavalry. 

"  By  command  of  Brevet  Major  General  KILPATRICK. 

"  (Signed)  L.  G.  ESTES, 

"  Major  and  A.  A.  G." 

We  again  quote  from  the  book  published  by  Widdleton  :  "  The 
wounded  and  sick  in  this  famous  campaign  were  attended  with 
all  the  surgical  and  medical  skill  necessary ;  and  it  may  be  truly 
said  that  the  Medical  Director,  Dr.  Helm,  (Ninety-Second  Illinois 
Volunteers)  and  all  the  medical  officers,  promptly,  and  in  the  face 
of  dangers,  responded  to  every  call  of  duty.  But,  in  a  long  and 
wearisome  march,  ambulances,  broken  down  or  stuck  in  the 
mud,  often  had  to  be  abandoned.  Of  all  the  officers  in  this  cam- 
paign, the  medical  officers  were  not  the  least  painfully  taxed ;  and 
29 


234  NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

the  skill,  humanity,  and  promptness  with  which  their  duties  were 
executed,  are  worthy  of  the  highest  praise. 

"  These  men,  in  toil,  danger  and  battle,  did  their  duty.  To 
have  been  of,  and  with  them,  is  the  writer's  pride.  A  grateful 
nation  will  never  forget  them.  Their  ranks  are  thinned;  many 
rest  in  the  quiet  of  the  grave.  But  the  services  rendered  the 
Nation  are  worthy  of  imitation  by  all  posterity;  and,  long  as  the 
Republic  lasts,  their  memories  will  continue  to  exist.  How  freelv' 
they  offered  their  lives  a  sacrifice  at  the  altar  of  their  country ! 
How  gladly,  on  the  most  sanguinary  fields  of  the  Rebellion,  they 
met  the  enemy,  will  be  told  in  terms  of  eulogy  by  historians  and 
poets  in  future  generations." 

On  the  twenty-sixth  of  March,  the  Brigade  moved  to  Faison's, 
and  camped,  still  living  upon  the  country.  On  the  twenty- 
seventh,  large  mails  were  received  from  home.  On  the  twenty- 
eighth,  just  as  the  command  was  nicely  fixed  in  camp,  at  two 
P.  M.,  "boot  and  saddle"  was  sounded,  and  the  Brigade  moved  ten 
miles  toward  Mount  Olive,  leaving  huge  piles  of  accumulated 
forage  and  rations  at  Faison's.  Lieutenant  Sutton,  of  Company 
C,  returned  from  a  scout,  with  some  fine  horses,  and  a  lot  of  jolly 
darkies.  On  the  twenty-ninth,  marched  to  Mount  Olive,  and 
camped,  and  drew  clothing.  The  command  remained  at  Mount 
Olive  until  April  tenth.  On  the  third  of  April,  General  Atkins 
was  serenaded,  and  called  on  for  a  speech,  and  he  predicted  that 
the  war  would  end  within  ninety  days.  On  April  ninth,  the  fol- 
lowing dispatch,  from  General  Grant  to  General  Sherman,  was 
read  at  dress  parade : 

"  BURKESVILLE  JUNCTION,  VA.,  ) 

April  6,  1865.      C 
"  To  Major  General  SHERMAN  : 

"  SIR  :  I  am  pressing  Lee,  and  his  men  are  deserting  by 
thousands,  and  going  to  their  homes.  Press  Johnston  hard,  and 
let  us  end  the  war  at  once.  By  order  of 

*  LIEUTENANT  GENERAL  GRANT. 

"  J.  A.  RAWLINGS, 
"  Adjt.  Gen.  and  Chief  of  StaJ}'." 

At  daylight,  on  the  morning  of  April  tenth,  1865,  the  Ninety- 
Second  was  again  in  the  saddle,  the  whole  armv  in  motion,  and 
all  anxious  to  "press  Johnston  hard  and  end  the  war  at 'once." 
It  was  the  object  of  the  cavalry,  by  rapid  marching,  to  reach  the 
road  between  Smithfield  and  Raleigh,  and  cut  oft"  some  portion  of 


NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  235 

Johnston's  army,  which,  it  was  predicted,  would  not  give  battle, 
but  retreat  toward  Raleigh.  The  Cavalry  Division  marched 
about  thirty  miles,  over  the  same  roads  the  army  had  marched 
on  before,  and  camped  after  dark,  near  Bentonsville.  The  coun- 
try was  desolate,  the  inhabitants  nearly  all  gone  from  home,  and 
hardly  a  sign  of  life  was  seen.  Marched  at  seven  A.  M.,  on  the 
eleventh,  toward  Smithfield,  and  camped  about  eight  miles  south- 
west of  that  town.  There  was  a  light  force  of  Rebel  cavalry  in 
front  all  dav,  but  not  sufficient  to  impede  the  march.  Moved  at 
daylight,  on  April  twelfth,  General  Atkins's  Brigade  in  advance, 
and  the  Ninety-Second  leading,  and  driving  the  enemy  before 
them.  About  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  Swift  Creek  was  reached.  The 
enemy  had  destroyed  the  bridge,  and  held  the  opposite  side  of  the 
stream,  but  was  dislodged  by  the  Ninetv-Second;  and  the  advance, 
under  Captain  Schermerhorn,  wading  the  stream,  the  opposite 
side  was  held,  and  the  bridge  repaired.  Just  as  the  balance  of 
the  Regiment  began  crossing  the  repaired  bridge,  Major  Nichols, 
of  General  Sherman's  staff,  rode  up  from  the  rear,  bringing  the 
joyful  intelligence  of  the  surrender  of  Lee's  army  to  General 
Grant.  The  cavalry  column  was  wild  with  joy,  and  made  the 
woods  echo  again  and  again  with  shouts;  the  Band  played  "  Hail 
Columbia;'1  the  Ninety-Second  crossed  over  the  bridge;  the 
Regiment  had  scarcely  crossed  the  creek,  when  the  still  stubborn 
brigade  of  Rebels,  holding  an  earthwork  on  the  hills  opposite, 
and  who  had  been  waiting  for  a  part  of  the  column  to  cross  to 
make  an  attack  while  no  support  could  be  rendered  by  the  Union 
cavalry,  not  yet  across  the  creek,  deemed  this  their  favorable  oppor- 
tunity ;  and,  with  a  yell,  the  Rebel  brigade  furiously  charged  the 
Ninety-Second,  hoping  to  force  it  back  into  the  creek ;  the  gray- 
coats  had  not  heard  of  Lee's  surrender,  and  evidently  did  not 
know  that  the  war  was,  in  fact,  over.  On  the  Rebels  came ;  and 
the  Ninety-Second,  the  men  still  shouting  and  laughing,  with  the 
glad  news  they  had  just  heard,  received  the  charge  of  the  Rebel 
brigade  with  murderous  volleys  from  their  ever  faithful  repeating 
rifles;  halted  it;  turned  it  back;  and,  like  wild  mad-caps,  dashed 
upon  the  retreating  foe,  captured  their  line  of  rifle  pits,  and  put 
the  Rebel  brigade  to  flight,  and  pushed  on,  without  another  halt, 
to  the  wagon  road  and  railroad,  seven  miles  east  of  Raleigh.  A 
soldier  who  was  with  the  command  wrote:  "  Brilliant  victory  ! 
But,  oh,  the  price  we  paid.  I  never  felt  so  sad  in  battle  before, 
as  I  did  then,  when  I  looked  upon  the  poor  boys  who  there,  after 
the  great  war  was  in  fact  over,  and  victory  was  with  our  eagles, 


236  NINETr-SZCOXD  ILLINOIS. 

received  marching  orders  to  report  in  Heaven."  It  was  in  this 
brilliant  charge  of  the  Ninety-Second,  headlong  against  that 
Rebel  brigade,  that  Captain  R.  M.  A.  Hawk,  of  Company  C, 
received  his  terrible  wound,  supposed  at  the  time  to  be  mortal; 
and  more  than  one  soldiers'  eyes  filled  with  tears  as  they  saw  him, 
pale  and  bleeding,  by  the  roadside.  His  life  was  spared;  but  he 
gave  his  good  right  leg  to  his  country  that  day.  Lieutentant 
Peleg  R.  Walker,  of  Company  K,  was  also  wounded.  Alexander 
Jackson,  of  Company  C,  was  killed.  The  Brigade  and  Division 
hastened  on  after  the  flying  Ninety-Second,  and  was  soon  upon 
the  Sfrtithfield  Road,  seven  miles  east  of  Raleigh.  The  advance 
of  the  Ninety-Second  had  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  railroad  engine 
and  passenger  coach,  bearing  white  flags,  going  toward  Smith- 
field,  and  rightly  conjectured  that  it  meant  the  surrender  of 
Raleigh.  By  command  of  General  Atkins,  a  regiment  and  sec- 
tion of  artillery  were  placed  in  line  of  battle,  facing  Raleigh,  to 
hold  the  road  against  the  Rebel  brigade  that  had  been  flying 
before  the  Ninety-Second,  and  a  line  of  battle  quickly  lormed, 
facing  toward  Smithfield ;  and  the  first  two  regiments,  the  Ninety. 
Second  Illinois  and  Ninth  Michigan,  armed  with  Spencer  Rifles 
and  Spencer  Carbines,  had  barely  formed  in  line  of  battle,  when 
Wade  Hampton's  cavalry  made  a  spirited  charge  upon  those  two 
regiments;  but  the  Rebels  could  not  stand  the  volleys  from  their 
Spencers,  and  fell  back.  The  locomotive  and  passenger  coach 
that  had  gone  toward  Smithfield  returned,  and  was  halted;  and 
on  the  train  were  found  Hon.  David  L.  Swain,  and  Hon.  William 
A.  Graham,  two  of  the  Ex-Governors  of  North  Carolina,  who 
had  been  sent,  by  the  Hon.  Zebulon  B.  Vance,  the  then  Governor 
of  North  Carolina,  to  General  Sherman,  with  an  offer  of  the  sur- 
render of  Raleigh,  and  bearing  a  petition  to  save  the  public 
property,  and  the  dwellings  of  the  citizens.  They  had  attempted 
to  reach  Sherman,  but  Wade  Hampton  had  refused  them  per- 
mission to  pass  his  lines,  and  turned  them  back. 

The  following  account  of  their  capture  is  taken  from  a  book 
written  by  Mrs.  Cornelia  Spencer,  a  Southern  lady,  and  published 
in  1866:  "  General  Hampton  retired,  and  the  train  had  proceeded 
slowly  about  a  mile  or  so,  in  the  direction  of  Raleigh,  when  it 
was  again  halted,  and  this  time  by  a  detachment  of  a  hundred 
Spencer  rifles,  a  portion  of  Kilpatrick's  cavalry,  under  the  com- 
mand of  General  Atkins.  Th6  Commissioners  were  informed 
that  they  must  proceed  to  the  head-quarters  of  General  Kilpat- 
rick,  distant  a  mile  or  more.  While  waiting  for  a  conveyance, 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  237 

they  were  courteously  treated,  and  a  band  of  music  ordered  up 
for  their  entertainment.  After  a  brief  interval,  General  Kil- 
patrick's  carriage  arrived  for  them,  and  they  proceeded  in  it,  under 
escort,  to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Fort,  where  the  General  then  was. 
He  received  them  politely,  examined  the  safe  conduct  of  General 
Hardee,  and  the  dispatches  for  General  Sherman,  and  then 
remarked  that  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed, 
according  to  the  laws  of  war,  gave  him  the  right,  which,  however, 
he  had  not  the  smallest  intention  of  exercising,  to  consider  them 
as  prisoners  of  war. 

"  '  It  is  true,  gentlemen,'  said  he,  '  that  you  came  under  the 
protection  of  a  flag  of  truce,  and  are  bearers  of  important  dis- 
patches from  your  Governor  to  my  Commanding  General,  but 
that  gave  you  no  right  to  cross  my  skirmish  line  while  a  fight  was 
going  on.' 

"  Governor  Graham  remarked  that  the  circumstances  under 
which  they  came  explained  themselves,  and  were  their  own 
justification.  That,  in  a  special  train,  with  open  windows,  pro- 
ceeding with  the  deliberation  proper  to  a  flag  of  truce,  with  only 
five  persons  in  a  single  car,  they  had  little  temptation  to  proceed 
if  they  had  known,  in  time  to  stop,  that  they  were  to  be  exposed 
to  a  cross-fire  from  the  skirmish  lines  of  the  two  armies. 

"  General  Kilpatrick  replied  that  all  that  was  very  true,  but 
that  it  was  proper,  nevertheless,  that  he  should  require  them  to 
proceed  to  General  Sherman's  head-quarters.  He  then  remarked 
that  the  war  was  virtually  at  an  end,  and  that  every  man  who 
voluntarily  shed  blood,  from  that  time  forth,  would  be  a  murderer; 
and  read  a  General  Order  from  General  Sherman,  congratulating 
the  army  on  the  surrender  of  General  Lee,  intelligence  of  which 
had  just  reached  him  by  telegraph.  This  was  the  first  intelligence 
our  Commissioners  had  received  of  this  final  blow  to  the  Southern 
Cause.  It  was,  indeed,  not  unexpected,  but  no  anticipation  of 
such  tidings  can  equal  the  moment  of  realization ;  and  to  receive 
it  under  such  circumstances,  where  extreme  caution  and  self- 
command  were  an  imperative  duty,  and  where  no  expression  can 
-be  allowed  to  the  natural  feeling  of  anguish  and  dismay  with 
which  it  filled  their  breasts,  gave  an  additional  pang." 

By  direction  of  General  Kilpatrick,  the  Cavalry  Division  was 
placed  in  line  of  battle  by  General  Atkins,  as  the  Regiment  came 
up,  facing  Smithfield,  and,  in  stronger  force,  Hampton  again 
charged  our  line,  hoping  to  break  through  and  reach  Raleigh. 
His  charge  was  handsomely  repulsed  by  the  Spencer  Rifles, 


238  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

carbines,  and  artillery.  And  again  Hampton's  men,  mounted 
and  on  foot,  charged  the  line,  but  met  with  no  better  success, 
the  Spencers  and  artillery  halting  his  dispirited  troops,  who,  of 
course,  knew  that  Sherman's  infantry  was  following  them  in 
rear,  while  Kilpatrick  held  the  road  to  Raleigh  in  their  front. 
Darkness  came  on.  Had  there  been  two  hours  more  of  daylight, 
Hampton  could  not  have  escaped:  but,  under  cover  of  the  dark- 
ness, the  wily  Rebel  cavalryman  slipped  out  of  the  trap,  on  a 
road  to  the  Northward,  and  passed  into  Raleigh  ahead  of  Kilpat- 
rick. As  soon  as  Hampton  had  withdrawn,  our  troops  opened 
communication  with  General  Sherman,  and  General  Kilpatrick 
sent  the  locomotive  and  car,  and  the  distinguished  gentlemen 
named,  to  General  Sherman's  head-quarters,  and  they  succeeded 
in  procuring  from  General  Sherman  orders  for  the  protection  of 
Raleigh,  and  the  college  buildings  and  libraries  at  Chapel  Hill. 
To  those  gentlemen,  in  a  great  measure,  the  citizens  of  Raleigh 
and  Chapel  Hill  are  indebted  for  the  protection  afforded  them  by 
General  Sherman's  orders.  On  the  thirteenth  of  April,  the  com- 
mand marched  early.  A  soldier,  in  his  diary,  wrote:  "As  it  was 
known  that  there  would  be  no  fighting  before  the  command 
passed  through  Raleigh,  the  Ninety-Second  could  not  have  the 
advance  to-day;  but  the  cavalry  borrowed  our  Band,  and  cut  a 
great  dash,  marching  down  through  the  streets  of  Raleigh." 
The  Mayor  and  distinguished  citizens  met  General  Kilpatrick  on 
the  outskirts  of  Raleigh,  and  surrendered  the  town,  and  assured 
General  Kilpatrick  that  the  citv  had  been  entirelv  evacuated  by 
the  Rebel  soldiery.  No  advance  guard  was  needed,  and  with 
banners  and  guidons  unfurled,  and  music  playing,  General  Kil- 
patrick rode  into  the  city,  at  the  head  of  his  Division.  In  passing 
up  Fayetteville  street,  from  the  Governor's  house  to  the  Capitol, 
with  nc  thought  of  an  enemy  near,  General  Kilpatrick  was 
suddenly  fired  upon  by  one  of  Wheeler's  men.  Mrs.  Spencer 
told  the  story  of  this  shooting,  in  her  book,  published  in  1866,  and 
we  copy  it,  as  follows: 

"  When  walking  from  the  railroad  station  to  the  city,  the 
Commissioners  had  passed  through  the  lines  of  General  Wheeler's 
cavalry,  pressing  in  the  direction  of  Chapel  Hill.  Half  an  hour 
after  reaching  the  State  House,  a  dozen  men,  the  debris  of  our 
army,  were  observed,  at  the  head  of  Fayetteville  street,  breaking 
open  and  plundering  the  stores.  Governor  Swain,  who  had 
remained  at  the  State  House,  approached  them,  and  stated  that  he 
was  immediately  from  General  Sherman's  head-quarters,  and  had 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  239 

assurance  from  him  that  if  no  resistance  was  offered  to  his 
advance  guard,  the  town  should  be  protected  from  plunder  and 
violence,  and  urged  the  soldiers  to  leave  at  once  and  join  their 
retreating  comrades.  They  replied,  '  D — n  Sherman,  and  the 
town,  too;  they  cared  for  neither.'  Robert  G.  Lewis,  Esq.,  the 
first  citizen  of  Raleigh  who  had  yet  been  seen,  came  up  just  then, 
and  joined  his  entreaties  with  earnestness.  More  and  more 
vehement  remonstrances  were  used  without  effect,  till  the  head 
of  Kilpatrick's  column  appeared  in  sight  advancing  up  the  street, 
when  they  all,  with  a  single  exception,  sprang  to  their  horses  and 
started  off  in  full  gallop.  Their  leader,  a  lieutenant,  whose  name 
and  previous  history  are  yet  unknown,  mounted  his  horse,  and 
took  his  station  midway  between  the  old  New-Berne  bank  and 
the  bookstore,  drew  his  revolver,  and  waited  till  Kilpatrick's 
advance  was  within  a  hundred  yards,  when  he  discharged  it  six 
times  in  rapid  succession  in  the  direction  of  the  officer  [General 
Kilpatrick]  at  the  head  of  the  troops.  He  then  wheeled,  put 
spurs  to  his  horse,  and  galloped  up  Morgan  street,  followed  by  a 
dozen  fleet  horsemen  in  hot  pursuit.  Turning  a  corner  his  horse 
fell.  He  remounted,  and  dashed  around  the  corner  at  Pleasant's 
store  on  Hillsboro  street.  A  few  yards  farther  on,  near  the 
bridge  over  the  railroad,  he  was  overtaken,  and  brought  back  to 
the  Capitol  Square,  where  General  Kilpatrick  ordered  his  imme- 
diate execution.  It  is  said  that  he  asked  for  rive  minutes'  time  to 
write  to  his  wife,  which  was  refused.  He  was  hung  in  the  grove 
just  back  of  Mr.  Lovejoy's,  and  was  buried  there.  He  died 
bravely — a  vile  marauder,  who  justly  expiated  his  crimes,  or  a 
bold  patriot,  whose  gallantry  deserves  a  more  generous  sentence, 
as  friend  or  foe  shall  tell  his  story." 

Mrs.  Spencer  is  a  Southern  lady,  who  mav  be  regarded  as  his 
friend,  and  the  story  she  has  told  leaves  no  room  for  a  more  gen- 
erous sentence.  An  officer  in  the  Rebel  army,  straggling  in  rear 
of  his  command,  joining  other  straggling  soldiers  in  pillaging  his 
own  friends,  non-combatants,  in  a  city  that  had  been  evacuated 
and  surrendered,  attempting  the  assassination  of  a  Union  General 
who  came  with  orders  to  protect  the  surrendered  city !  We 
desire  to  add  no  harsh  word,  but  friend  or  foe  can  add  no  generous 
sentence. 

Sherman's  infantrv  was  following  the  cavalry.     The  Cavalry 

Division  marched  rapidly  through  Raleigh,  and  on  toward  Mor- 
risvillc.  A  few  miles  from  Raleigh,  General  Jordan's  brigade, 

which    was    leading,   struck    the  enemy,  Wheeler's   cavalrv,  en- 


24o  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

camped,  not  -expecting  the  Yankees  to  march  beyond  Raleigh 
that  day,  and  Jordan's  brigade  rattled  them  out  of  their  camps 
lively.  At  the  first  station  west  of  Raleigh,  Carey,  a  quantity  of 
corn  was  captured  at  the  depot.  At  Morrisville,  twelve  miles 
west  of  Raleigh,  an  engine  attempted  to  take  cars  loaded  with 
corn  from  the  station,  but  a  few  shots  from  the  artillery  frightened 
the  engine  off,  and  the  cars  and  corn  were  captured.  The  Di« 
vision  camped  at  Morrisville.  Here  the  roads  divided,  the  road 
to-  Chapel  Hill  leading  to  the  left,  and  the  road  to  Hillsboro  fol- 
lowing the  railroad.  General  Wade  Hampton,  with  his  cavalry, 
had  gone  toward  Hillsboro,  along  the  railroad,  and  General 
Wheeler's  cavalry  had  gone  toward  Chapel  Hill.  General  Kil- 
patrick,  with  Jordan's  brigade,  had  followed  Hampton ;  and 
General  Atkins,  with  his  Brigade,  was  ordered  to  follow  Wheeler. 
Atkins's  Brigade  moved  early,  on  April  fourteenth,  1865,  and  had 
not  gone  a  mile  beyond  the  picket,  when  the  enemy  was  found, 
and  he  stubbornly  disputed  the  road.  The  Tenth  Ohio  Cavalry 
charged  splendidly,  driving  the  enemy,  and  following  them  nearly 
four  miles  on  a  run;  but  the  regiment  was  halted,  and  the  entire 
Brigade  went  into  camp,  General  Atkins  having  received  an  order 
from  General  Kilpatrick,  comprised  in  a  single  word — "  halt." 
There  the  Brigade  lay  halted  all  day  and  all  night,  and  until  nearly 
noon  of  the  next  day,  when  General  Atkins  received  another 
order  from  General  Kilpatrick — "Go  ahead" — and,  of  course, 
ahead  the  Brigade  went.  A  terrible  rain-storm  was  prevailing, 
and  the  streams  were  rendered  almost  impassable  by  the  flood. 
When  the  Brigade  reached  Atkins's  plantation,  near  the  New 
Hope  River,  General  Atkins  received  another  order  from  General 
Kilpatrick,  only  one  word — "  Halt."  The  Brigade  halted,  built 
barricades,  and  went  into  camp  again.  The  bridge  across  the 
river  had  been  destroved;  but  the  Ninth  Ohio  Cavah^y,  the  lead- 
ing regiment  of  the  Brigade,  crossed  a  hundred  dismounted  men 
over  the  river,  on  one  stringer  of  the  bridge  that  was  left,  and 
were  scarcely  over,  when  thev  were  furiously  charged  by 
Wheeler's  cavalry.  That  regiment  had  been  armed  with  tin- 
Spencer  Carbines,  at  Goldsboro,  and  had  not  yet  had  a  chance  to 
try  their  new  Spencer  Carbines.  Mrs.  Spencer  gives  the  following 
account  of  what  happened : 

"  The  Federal  cavalry  were  in  close  pursuit,  and  several 
skirmishes  had  taken  place  on  the  road  from  Raleigh.  A  Bri- 
gade, under  General  Atkins,  followed  General  Wheeler,  while 
Kilpatrick,  with  the  balance  of  the  Division,  followed  Hampton 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  241 

toward  Hillsboro,  along  the  Central  Railroad  line.  The  last  skir- 
mish occurred,  and  perhaps  the  last  blood  of  the  war  was  shed, 
on  Friday  evening,  fourteenth,  at  the  Atkins  plantation,  eight 
miles  from  Chapel  Hill,  near  the  New  Hope  River,  which  was 
much  swollen  by  heavy  rains,  and  the  bridge  over  which,  as  well 
as  all  others  on  the  road,  was  destroyed  by  Wheeler's  men. 
They  attacked  the  enemy,  endeavoring  to  cross  on  fallen  trees 
and  driftwood,  and  several  were  killed  on  both  sides." 

Mrs.  Spencer  was  mistaken  in  the  date — it  was  Saturday  eve- 
ning, the  fifteenth,  not  the  fourteenth,  and  none  were  killed  on 
the  Union  side.  The  Ninth  Ohio  met  and  repulsed  four  distinct 
charges  of  Wheeler's  men,  and  killed  and  wounded  several  of 
them,  but  did  not  lose  a  man  in  the  Ninth  Ohio.  A  bridge  was 
built  over  the  river,  but  the  rains  raised  the  stream,  and  the  bridge 
was  carried  off  during  the  night.  On  Sunday  morning,  General 
Atkins  was  apprised  of  the  truce  between  Generals  Sherman  and 
Johnston,  and  was  directed  to  go  with  his  Brigade  to  Chapel  Hill, 
protect  the  University  of  North  Carolina,  with  its  libraries  and 
grounds,  and  remain  there  until  the  truce  was  ended.  A  new 
bridge  was  constructed,  and  the  command  moved  out,  the  Ninety- 
Second  in  the  advance.  A  few  miles  farther  on  was  found  another 
river,  with  the  bridge  destroyed,  and  the  Brigade  went  into  camp, 
rebuilt  the  bridge,  and  Captain  J.  M.  Schermerhorn,  of  Company 
G,  of  the  Ninety-Second,  was  sent  forward  into  Chapel  Hill.  We 
again  quote  from  Mrs.  Spencer's  book  : 

"  On  Sunday,  at  two  P.  M.,  General  Wheeler  called  in  his 
pickets,  and  once  more,  and  for  l.he  last  time,  we  saw  the  gallant 
sight  of  our  gray-clad  Confederate  soldiers,  and  waved  our  last 
farewell  to  our  army.  A  few  hours  of  absolute  and  Sabbath  still- 
ness and  silence  ensued.  The  groves  stood  thick  and  solemn,  the 
bright  sun  shining  through  the  great  boles  and  down  the  grassy 
slopes,  while  a  pleasant  Irayrance  was  wafted  from  the  purple  pin- 
nacles of  the  paullonia.  All  that  nature  can  do  was  still  done  with 
order  and  beauty,  while  men's  hearts  was  failing  them  for  fear, 
and  for  looking  after  those  things  which  were  coming  on  the 
earth. 

"  We  sat  in  our  pleasant  piazzas,  and  awaited  events  with  a 
quiet  resignation.  The  silver  had  all  been  buried — some  of  it  in 
springs,  some  of  it  under  rocks  in  the  streams,  some  of  it  in  fence 
corners,  which,  after  the  fences  had  been  burned  down,  was  prettv 
hard  to  find  again;  some  of  it  in  the  woods,  some  of  it  in  the  cel- 
30 


242  NINBTT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

lars.  There  was  not  much  provision  to  be  carried  off — that  was 
one  comfort.  The  sight  of  our  empty  store-rooms  and  smoke- 
houses would  be  likely  to  move  our  invaders  to  laughter.  Our 
wardrobes  were  hardly  worth  hiding — homespun  and  jeans  hung 
placidly  in  their  accustomed  places.  But  the  libraries,  public  and 
private,  the  buildings  of  the  University — all  minor  selfish  consid- 
erations were  merged  in  a  generous  anxiety  for  these.  So  we 
talked  and  speculated,  while  the  very  peace  and  profound  quiet  of 
the  place  sustained  and  soothed  our  minds.  Just  at  sunset,  a 
sedate  and  soldierly-looking  man,  at  the  head  of  a  dozen,  dressed 
in  blue,  rode  quietly  in  by  the  Raleigh  Road.  Governor  Swain, 
accompanied  by  a  few  of  the  principal  citi/ens,  met  them  at  the 
entrance,  and  stated  that  he  had  General  Sherman's  promise  that 
the  town  and  University  should  be  saved  from  pillage.  The  sol- 
dier replied  that  such  were  his  orders,  and  they  should  be  observed. 
They  then  rode  in,  galloped  up  and  down  the  streets  inquiring 
for  Rebels;  and  being  told  that  there  ivere  none  in  town,  thev 
withdrew  for  the  night  to  their  camp ;  and  the  next  morning,  being 
Easter  Monday,  General  Atkins,  at  the  head  of  a  detachment  of 
four  thousand  cavalry,  entered  about  eight  A.  M.,  and  we  were 
captured. 

"  That  was  surely  a  day  to  be  remembered  by  us  all.  For  the 
first  time  in  four  years  we  saw  the  old  flag — the  '  Stars  and 
Stripes,'  in  whose  defense  we  would  once  have  been  willing  to  die, 
but  which  certainly  excited  very  little  enthusiasm  now.  Never 
before  had  we  realized  how  entirely  our  hearts  had  been  turned 
away  from  what  was  once  our  whole  country,  till  we  felt  the  bit- 
terness aroused  by  the  sight  of  that  flag  shaking  out  its  red  and 
white  folds  over  us.  The  utmost  quiet  and  good  order  prevailed. 
Guards  were  placed  at  every  house  immediately,  and  with  a 
promptness  that  was  needful ;  for  one  residence,  standing  a  little 
apart,  was  entered  by  a  squad  of  bummers  in  advance  of  the 
guards,  and  in  less  than  ten  minutes  the  lower  rooms,  store-rooms 
and  bed-rooms  were  overhauled  and  plundered  with  a  swift  and 
busi-ness-like  thoroughness  only  attainable  by  long  and  extensive 
practice.  A  guard  arriving,  they  left;  but  their  plunder  was  not 
restored.  The  village  guards,  belonging  to  the  Ninth  Michigan 
Cavalry,  deserve  especial  mention  as  being  a  decent  set  of  men, 
who,  while  they  were  here,  behaved  with  civility  and  propriety." 

The  Brigade  commanded  by  General  Atkins  went  into  camp 
around  the  little  village  of  Chapel  Hill,  one  of  the  prettiest,  most 
lovely  spots  found  in  all  the  campaigning  of  the  Ninety-Second 


KlNtiTT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  343 

during  its  three  years  service.  The  enemy  had  destroyed  all  the 
railroad  bridges,  and,  so  far  as  he  could,  the  railroad  track,  and 
while  there  were  plenty  of  army  rations  at  New-Berne  and  Golds- 
boro,  General  Atkins's  Brigade  was  compelled,  per  force,  to  "  live 
upon  the  country."  A  soldier,  in  his  diarv,  wrote :  "  Strict  orders 
from  Brigade  head-quarters,  instead  of  rations,  to-day."  Genera! 
Atkins  could  issue  "  strict  orders  "  to  his  command,  but  he  could 
not  furnish  them  army  rations  until  the  destroyed  railroad  bridges 
and  track  were  repaired.  Who  was  to  blame  for  that?  Certainly 
the  Confederate  army,  that  destroyed  the  railroads  and  bridges  in 
a  country  they  were  abandoning  and  not  attempting  to  hold 
Mrs.  Spencer,  in  speaking  of  Wheeler's  cavalry,  was  right  when 
she  said,  "  There  were  rough  riders  among  these  troopers — men 
who,  if  plunder  was  the  object,  would  have  cared  little  whether  it 
was  got  from  friend  or  foe."  Just  so !  And  much  of  the  pillaging 
charged  to  Atkins's  men  was  really  committed  by  the  "  rough 
riders"  with  Wheeler,  a  gallant  Confederate  .soldier,  but  never  a 
disciplinarian.  Atkins's  Brigade  was  well  disciplined ;  the  Ninety  - 
Second,  and,  also,  each  Brigade  successively  that  Atkins  com- 
manded, complained  of  his  strict  discipline.  On  the  day  that  his 
Brigade  reached  Chapel  Hill  there  were  no  rations  to  issue,  but 
there  were  "  strict  orders  "  from  Brigade  head-quarters.  Never- 
theless, his  command  was  compelled  to  "live  upon  the  country." 
Thousands  of  men  and  horses  are  not  easily  fed,  and  with  all  his 
"  strict  orders,"  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  many  plantations 
were  stripped  of  everything  eatable.  And,  again,  of  course,  all 
animals  were  taken  that  were  fit  for  Uncle  Sam's  service.  Conse- 
quently it  happened  that  some  families  were  left,  first,  without  a 
morsel  of  food,  and,  again,  with  many  mouths,  colored  and  white, 
to  provide  for,  without  an  animal  to  make  a  crop  of  corn  with, 
the  coming  season.  There  was  no  help  for  it.  "Such  is  war," 
and  there  is  no  use  in  attempting  to  refine  it.  Useless  cruelty  in 
war,  and  to  the  defenseless  inhabitants  of  a  country  occupied  by 
an  army,  is,  of  course,  indefensible;  but  "  war  is  cruelty,"  and  the 
cruelty  that  ensued  from  an  army  subsisting  upon  the  country 
was  not  useless.  It  was  an  absolute  necessity.  But  Wheeler's 
cavalry  had  "lived  upon  the  country"  before  Atkins's  Brigade 
reached  there,  and  there  was  but  little  left  to  live  upon. 
Ex-Governor  Swain,  President  of  the  University  of  North  Caro- 
lina, a  few  days  after  Chapel  Hill  was  occupied  by  the  Federals, 
addressed  the  following:  communication  to  General  Sherman  : 


244  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

"  CHAPEL  HILL,  April  19,  1865. 
"Major  General    W.    T.   Sherman, 

"Commanding  United  States  Forces : 

"GENERAL:  .  .  .  On  my  return  to  this  village  on  Saturday 
morning,  fifteenth  instant,  I  found  that  General  Wheeler,  with  his 
division  of  cavalry,  had  been  encamped  here  for  two  days.  He 
resumed  his  march  on  Sunday  morning,  leaving  the  country 
denuded  to  a  considerable  extent  of  forage,  and  taking  with  him  a 
number  of  horses  and  mules.  General  Atkins  arrived  with  his 
Brigade  on  Monday  morning,  and  is  in  camp  here  now.  I  have 
had  several  interviews  with  General  Atkins,  and  have  pleasure  in 
stating  that  he  manifests  a  disposition  to  execute  his  orders  with 
as  much  forbearance  as  he  deems  compatible  with  a  proper  dis- 
charge ot  his  duty.  Nevertheless,  many  worthy  families  have 
been  stripped  by  his  soldiers  of  the  necessary  means  of  subsist- 
ence. A  Baptist  clergyman — a  most  estimable  citizen,  and  the 
most  extensive  farmer  within  a  circle  of  three  miles — is  almost 
entirely  destitute  of  provision  for  man  and  beast;  and  with  a  fam- 
ily of  more  than  fifty  persons  (white  and  colored),  has  not  a  single 
horse  or  mule.  Other  instances,  not  less  striking,  exist,  of  fami- 
lies in  less  affluent  circumstances;  but  I  refer  particular!}'  to  Mr. 
Purefoy,  because  he  has  been  mv  near  neighbor  for  about  thirty 
years,  and  I  hold  him  in  the  highest  estimation.  He,  like  many 
others,  is  not  merely  without  the  present  means  of  subsistence, 
but  unless  his  horses  and  mules  are  restored  or  replaced,  can  make 
no  provision  for  the  future.  The  delay  of  a  few  days  even  may 
render  it  impossible  to  plant  corn  within  the  proper  time. 

"  I  am  satisfied  from  the  impression  made  upon  me  in  our 
recent  interview,  that,  personally,  you  have  no  disposition  to  add 
to  the  unavoidable  horrors  of  war,  by  availing  yourself  of  the 
utmost  license  which  writers  on  the  subject  deem  admissable,  but 
that,  on  the  contrary,  you  would  prefer  to  treat  the  peaceful  tillers 
of  the  soil  with  no  unnecessary  harshness.  I  venture  to  hope, 
therefore,  that  the  present  state  of  negotiations  between  the  con- 
tending armies  will  enable  you  to  relax  the  severity  of  the  orders 
under  which  General  Atkins  is  acting,  and  I  am  satisfied  that  if 
you  shall  feel  yourself  justified  by  the  course  of  events  in  doing 
so,  an  intimation  of  your  purpose  will  be  welcome  intelligence  to 
him.  I  am,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"D.  L.  SWAIN." 
Tp  which  letter  General  Sherman  replied  as  follows : 


NINBTT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  245 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  MILITARY  DIVISION  OF  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  ) 
"  IN  THE  FIELD,  RALEIGH,  N.  C.,  April  23,  1865.      J 

"  Hon.  D.  L.  Sivain,  Chapel  Hill,  N.  C.: 

"  MY  DEAR  SIR:  Yours  of  April  nineteenth  was  laid  before 
me  yesterday,  and  I  am  pleased  that  you  recognize  in  General 
Atkins  a  tair  representative  of  our  army. 

"  The  moment  war  ceases,  and  I  think  that  time  is  at  hand,  all 
seizures  of  horses  and  private  property  will  cease  on  our  part. 
And  it  may  be  that  we  will  be  able  to  spare  some  animals  for  the 
use  of  the  farmers  of  your  neighborhood.  There  now  exists  a 
species  of  truce,  but  we  must  stand  prepared  for  action;  but  I 
believe  that  in  a  very  few  days  a  definite  and  general  peace  will 
be  arranged,  when  I  will  make  orders  that  will  be  in  accordance 
with  the  new  state  of  affairs. 

"  I  do  believe  that  I  fairly  represent  the  feelings  of  my  coun- 
trymen— that  we  prefer  peace  to  war;  but,  if  war  is  forced  upon 
us,  we  must  meet  it:  but,  if  peace  be  possible,  we  will  accept  it, 
and  be  the  friends  of  the  farmers  and  working  classes  of  North 
Carolina,  as  well  as  actual  patrons  of  churches,  colleges,  asylums, 
and  all  institutions  of  learning  and  charity.  Accept  the  assur- 
ances of  my  respect  and  high  esteem. 

"  I  am,  truly  yours, 

"  W.  T.  SHERMAN, 
"Major  General  Commanding-." 

Until  the  railroad  which  the  enemy  had  destroyed  had  been 
repaired,  and  rations  for  the  army  brought  up  from  the  rear,  the 
severity  of  the  orders  under  which  General  Atkins  was  acting 
could  not  be  relaxed ;  but,  when  rations  could  be  drawn  through 
the  Commissary  Department,  General  Atkins  ordered  his  Brigade 
Commissary,  Captain  J.  L.  Spear,  of  the  Ninety-Second,  to  issue 
rations,  not  only  to  his  troops,  but  to  all  the  citizens,  white  and 
colored,  who  applied  for  them ;  and  rations  were  issued  to  the  in- 
habitants for  miles  around.  On  the  nineteenth  of  April,  was 
received  intelligence  that  a  truce  had  been  arranged  for  fifteen 
days,  and  that  the  first  agreement  for  the  surrender  of  Johnston's 
army  had  been  forwarded  to  Washington,  for  the  approval  of  the 
President,  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Armies  and  Navies  of 
the  United  States.  The  terms  of  surrender  granted  to  General 
Johnston,  by  General  Sherman,  were  deemed  too  lenient  by  the 
President,  or  by  Hon.  E.  M.  Stanton,  then  Secretary  of  War,  and 
were  disapproved.  The  writers  ot  this  book  thought,  at  the  time, 


246  N1NBTT-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

that  it  was  most  unfortunate  that  the  Government  did  not  approve 
of  the  terms  of  surrender  at  first  arranged  between  Generals  Sher- 
man and  Johnston ;  and,  even  noAv,  they  think  it  was  unfortunate 
Sherman,  in  war,  was  severe;  but  the  war  was  over,  and  severity 
in  time  of  peace  was  not  required,  either  as  punishment,  or  as  secu- 
rity for  the  future.  He  who  conquers  can  afford  to  be  generous ; 
and,  especially,  when  the  conquered  and  conquerors  are  members 
of  the  same  family.  In  war,  the  entire  inhabitants  of  the  rebel- 
lious States,  those  who  voluntarily  aided  the  Rebellion,  and  those, 
also,  who  gave  the  Rebellion  no  aid,  or  only  that  which  they  were 
forced  to  give,  were  enemies  to  the  United  States;  but,  when 
peace  came,  they  all  became  a  part  and  portion  of  the  Republic, 
no  longer  enemies,  but  friends ;  and  not  only  friends,  but  brothers 
and  equals. 

The  Ninety-Second,  with  the  Brigade,  remained  in  camp 
nearly  three  weeks,  at  Chapel  Hill,  waiting  for  Johnston's  sur- 
render, which  finally  transpired.  The  interview  between  Gener- 
als Sherman  and  Johnston,  in  which  terms  for  the  surrender  of 
the  Confederate  army  were  agreed  upon,  took  place  near  Dur- 
ham's Station,  between  the  picket  lines  of  Hampton  and  Kilpat- 
rick,  Doctor  Clinton  Helm,  Surgeon  of  the  Ninety-Second,  and 
Chief  Medical  Director  of  the  Cavalry  Division,  being  present. 
There  is  little  to  record  in  regard  to  the  Ninety-Second,  during 
its  stay  at  Chapel  Hill.  On  the  evening  of  the  twenty-second  of 
April,  1865,  the  Ninety-Second  boys,  with  the  Band,  proceeded  to 
the  head-quarters  of  General  Atkins,  to  serenade  him ;  and,  find- 
ing him  absent,  they  proceeded  to  the  residence  of  ex-Governor 
Swain,  where  the  General  was  visiting,  and  serenaded  him  there. 
After  several  pieces  of  music  had  been  played  by  the  Band,  they 
called  on  the  General  for  a  speech,  when  he  appeared  upon  the 
front  porch  of  Governor  Swain's  residence,  and  said : 

"  Soldiers,  I  am  making  a  speech  to  a  young  lady  here  to- 
night, and  I  have  no  eloquence  to  waste — she  requires  it  all.  The 
war,  as  I  told  you  it  would,  at  Mount  Olive,  has  played  out,  and  in 
less  than  the  ninety  days  I  then  named.  I  think  speech-making 
has  played  out  also,  except  to  the  young  ladies.  You  must  go  to 
your  quarters." 

The  boys  went  to  their  quarters  very  sullenly.  It  was  the 
most  unpopular  speech  the  General  ever  made.  Never  before, 
when  serenaded  by  the  men  of  the  Ninety-Second — and  it  had 
often  happened — had  he  failed  to  appreciate  the  compliment,  and 
had  always  responded  cheerfully  to  their  calls  for  a  speech.'  But 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  247 

the  General  was  cross  in  those  days  to  every  one,  except  the  girl 
he  was  making  love  to.  He  went  all  through  the  war  without 
being  a  prisoner,  and  was  captured  at  last,  after  the  war  was  oven 
by  the  youngest  daughter  of  ex-Governor  Swain,  and  he  has  been 
her  happy  and  contented  prisoner  ever  since. 

On  the  twenty-fourth  of  April,  the  Ninety-Second  received 
orders  to  be  ready  to  resume  hostilities  in  forty-eight  hours,  the 
terms  of  the  surrender  of  Johnston's  army,  first  agreed  upon,  hav- 
ing been  disapproved  at  Washington'.  The  men  of  the  Regiment 
were  very  willing  to  resume  hostilities,  if  it  was  necessary  to  do 
so,  and  to  do,  as  Grant  had  written  to  Sherman,  "  press  Johnston 
hard,  and  end  the  war  at  once."  But  there  was  not  a  soldier  in 
the  Regiment  but  that  felt  that  it  would  be  cruelty  to  fight  another 
battle.  Every  man  was  conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  war  was 
really  over;  but  orders  were  orders,  and  they  were  ready  to 
resume  hostilities. 

On  the  twenty-sixth,  the  Regiment  received  orders  to  be  ready 
to  march  at  daylight;  but  the  orders  were  countermanded,  and 
news  of  Johnston's  surrender  received.  The  men  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  were  not  soldiers  by  profession,  and  clamorously  demanded 
an  immediate  muster-out,  when  news  of  Johnston's  surrender 
reached  them.  Certainly,  infantry  regiments  had  been  ordered 
to  be  mustered  out  and  discharged,  but  the  order  did  not  include 
the  Ninety-Second,  and,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  April,  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  VanBuskirk,  commanding  the  Regiment,  was  called  out 
for  a  speech,  the  men  desiring  to  know  why  certain  regiments  of 
infantry  were  mustered  out,  and  the  Ninety-Second  retained.  Col- 
onel VanBuskirk  explained  the  order  to  the  general  satisfaction  of 
the  Regiment.  On  the  twenty-ninth,  Major  General  Kilpatrick 
came  over  to  Chapel  Hill,  from  Durham's  Station,  and  reviewed 
the  Brigade.  At  ten  o'clock  A.  M.,  on  May  third,  the  Ninety- 
Second,  with  the  Brigade,  bid  adieu  to  Chapel  Hill,  and  marched 
twelve  miles,  to  Hillsboro.  The  Confederate  cavalry  had  been 
paroled,  and  were  marching  home,  the  men  permitted  to  retain 
their  horses  and  side-arms,  and,  together,  the  Ninety-Second  and 
their  late  enemies,  enemies  no  longer,  filled  the  road,  and  together 
they  marched  along.  The  Confederate  soldiers  were  somewhat 
downcast  and  dispirited;  but  the  Ninety-Second  men,  who  had 
frequently  met  them  in  battle,  had  no  jibes  for  them ;  they  had 
learned,  on  many  a  hard-fought  field,  how  brave  the  Confederate 
soldiers  under  Wheeler  and  Hampton  were;  they  respected  their 
bravery ;  indeed,  gray-coat  and  blue-coat,  mingling  together  in 


248  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

their  march  that  day  through  Hillsboro,  were  friends,  enemies  no 
longer,  but  friends  and  equals,  all  citizens  of  the  Republic  saved. 
Had  the  terms  of  the  surrender  of  the  Confederates,  and  all 
questions  of  re-construction  and  future  Union,  been  left  that  day 
to  the  soldiers  alone,  of  both  armies,  there  would  have  been  no 
disagreement;  the  blue-coats  would  not  have  imposed  harsh 
terms  upon  the  gray-coats,  and  the  generosity  of  the  brave  con- 
querors would  have  been  met  by  the  generosity  of  the  brave  men 
conquered. 

On  the  fourth  of  May,  the  command  continued  its  march  from 
Hillsboro  to  Company  Shops,  and  camped,  and  on  the  next  day, 
marched  to  Greensboro,  reaching  there  at  four  P.  M.  Two  hun- 
dred Confederate  cannon  were  parked  at  Greensboro,  surrendered 
by  the  Confederate  army  under  the  command  of  Johnston.  The 
Brigade  lay  several  days  at  Greensboro,  waiting  for  horse-shoes. 
In  the  sandy  coast  country  it  made  but  little  difference  whether 
the  horses  were  shod  or  not;  but  on  the  rocky  and  gravelly  roads 
of  the  higher  country  the  barefooted  animals  were  becoming 
lame.  The  war  was  ended — the  Cavalry  Division  had  no  other 
duty  than  to  occupy  the  country,  and  maintain  quiet  and  peace, 
until  the  civil  authorities  had  re-established  government.  The 
discipline  of  the  troops  was  very  strict.  No  foraging  was  per- 
mitted; the  troops  were  supplied  with  army  rations;  the  railroad 
was  in  running  order,  and  all  kinds  of  supplies  were  regularly 
received,  and  in  abundance.  On  the  eighth  of  May,  the  com- 
mand moved  to  Lexington.  On  the  eleventh  of  May,  the  Ninety- 
Second  marched  to  Salisbury,  as  an  escort  for  the  wagon  trains 
of  the  Twenty-Third  army  corps. 

On  the  twelfth  of  May,  1865,  the  Ninety-Second  made  its  last 
march  on  horseback,  to  Concord,  and,  as  one  of  the  soldiers  wrote 
in  his  diary,  that  day  :  "  Camped,  to  put  on  style."  It  was  a  styl- 
ish camp  the  Ninety-Second  had  at  Concord,  in  a  grove  of  young 
pine  trees.  Lieutenant  Horace  C.  Scoville,  of  Company  K,  cap- 
tured at  Nickojack,  in  Northern  Georgia,  returned  to  the  Regi- 
ment, and  was  warmly  welcomed.  He  had  been  promoted  to  the 
Captaincy  of  his  company  during  his  absence  in  the  Confederate 
prisons.  First  Sergeant  James  D.  White,  of  Company  K.  was 
promoted  to  Second  Lieutenant.  On  Saturday,  the  thirteenth  of 
May,  the  Regiment  put  its  camping  grounds  in  fine  order.  On 
Sunday,  the  fourteenth,  the  Chaplain  held  services  in  a  church  in 
Concord.  The  Regiment  lay  at  Concord,  day  after  day,  with 
nothing  to  do,  except  to  grumble  and  grumble  about  not  being 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  249 

mustered  out  and  sent  home.  The  disaffection  was  general, 
among  officers  and  soldiers — all  wished  to  return  at  once  to  those 
peaceful  pursuits  they  had  reluctantly  left  when  they  volunteered 
to  help  maintain  the  life  of  the  nation.  The  glorious  end  had 
come — the  life  of  the  nation  was  no  longer  in  danger,  and  it 
required  some  effort  to  keep  the  men  from  going  home,  orders  or 
no  orders.  There  was  considerable  excitement  in  camp  on  the 
twenty-first  of  May.  The  War  Department  had  ordered  all 
infantry  regiments,  the  term  of  enlistment  of  which  would  expire 
within  four  months,  to  be  mustered  out  immediately.  The 
Ninety-Second  was  an  infantry  Regiment,  although  mounted 
and  serving  with  the  cavalry,  and  it  came  fairly  under  the  orders 
of  the  War  Department  for  immediate  muster  out.  But  General 
Kilpatrick  sent  a  written  communication  to  the  Ninety-Second, 
saying  that,  in  his  opinion,  the  Ninety-Second  was  not  an  infantry 
Regiment,  but  a  Regiment  of  cavalry;  it  was  mounted  and 
equipped  throughout  precisely  as  the  cavalry ;  was  then,  and  has 
long  been,  serving  with  the  cavalry ;  and  that  he  had  ordered  his 
mustering  officer  to  regard  the  Ninety-Second  as  cavalry,  and 
not  to  muster  out  the  Regiment  under  the  orders  of  the  Wai- 
Department,  referring  to  infantry  regiments.  At  Chattanooga, 
Brigadier  General  Elliott,  commanding  the  Cavalry  of  the  De- 
partment of  the  Cumberland,  had  chosen  to  sneeringlv  regard 
the  Regiment  as  an  infantry  Regiment,  and  refused  to  give  the 
Ninety-Second  its  quota  of  horses  to  mount  the  men,  until  the 
cavalry  had  first  been  mounted.  The  Regiment  had  then  wished 
to  be  regarded  as  cavalry,  and  have  received  the  same  treatment  as 
the  cavalry.  Now  the  Regiment  wished  to  be  regarded  as  infantrv, 
and  be  mustered  out  and  sent  home;  but  Kilpatrick  chose  to  regard 
it  as  a  Regiment  of  cavalry.  There  was  considerable  harsh 
language  used;  but  reasonable  counsels  prevailed;  for  a  time 
Kilpatrick's  orders  were  submitted  to;  but  an  appeal  from  his 
ruling  was  taken  to  General  Schofield,  commanding  the  Depart- 
ment, and  before  General  Schofield  had  decided  the  matter,  an 
order  came  from  the  War  Department  to  muster  out  cavalry 
regiments,  whose  terms  of  enlistment  would  expire  within  four 
months;  and  there  being  no  possible  way  to  longer  avoid  it,  for, 
cavalry  or  infantry,  no  matter  which,  the  orders  were  to  muster 
the  Regiment  out,  and  the  mustering  officer  leisurely  proceeded 
to  prepare  the  muster  out  rolls.  The  recruits  of  the  Regiment 
were  transferred  to  the  Sixty-Fifth  Illinois  Veteran  Infantry,  and 
Captain  H.  M.  Tynms,  of  Company  A,  one  of  the  officers  de- 
31 


250  NINETT-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 

tailed  to  accompany  the  recruits,  was  promoted  to  Major  of 
that  regiment.  The  transfer  to  the  Sixty-Fifth  Illinois  was  made 
under  the  following  order : 

"  HEAD-QUARTERS  TWENTY-THIRD  ARMY  CORPS,  ) 
Greensboro,  N.  C.,  June  21,  1865.      J 
"  Special    Orders,  ) 
No.  61.  f 

"  III.  The  following  named  officers  of  the  Ninety-Second 
Illinois  Infantry  are  hereby  transferred,  with  two  hundred  and 
twenty-five  (225)  enlisted  men  of  that  Regiment,  to  the  Sixty- 
Fifth  Illinois  Infantry,  and  will  report  to  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Stewart,  commanding,  for  duty. 

"Captain  John  F.  Nelson,  Captain  Harvey  M.  Timms,  First 
Lieutenant  Norman  Lewis,  Second  Lieutenant  James  D.  White. 

"  By  command  of  Brevet  Major  General  Ruger. 

"  HENRY  A.  HALL, 

"  Captain  and  A.  A.  G." 

On  the  seventh  of  June,  1865,  blanks  having  been  received 
from  the  mustering  officer,  the  very  cheerful  work  of  preparing 
the  muster  out  rolls  began  in  the  various  companies  of  the 
Ninety-Second.  Everybody  in  the  Regiment  was  very  happy  at 
the  thought  of  soon  going  home — cheerfulness  and  gayety  took 
the  place  of  the  grumbling  discontent.  On  the  eighth  of  June, 
Company  G  procured  a  fiddler,  and  gave  a  stag-dance  to  the 
Regiment,  and  "  all  hands  around"  made  everything  gay  and 
lively.  On  the  fourteenth  of  June,  the  Regiment  turned  over  its 
horses  and  horse  equipments.  On  the  fifteenth,  the  Regiment 
was  without  horses,  no  drilling,  nothing  to  do  in  camp,  and  again 
Company  G  enlivened  the  time  by  giving  another  stag-dance  party 
to  the  other  companies  of  the  Regiment.  On  Sunday,  June 
eighteenth,  1865,  good,  old  Chaplain  Cartwright,  who  had  been 
preaching  to  the  Freedmen  regularly,  since  the  arrival  of  the 
Ninety-Second  at  Concord,  preached  his  farewell  sermon  to  the 
colored  people,  and  gave  them  sensible  advice,  urging  them  to 
remember  that  they  were  now  free,  'but  that  they  must  depend 
upon  themselves  entirely  in  the  future,  and  could  only  expect 
happiness  and  comfort  in  life  by  being  sober,  honest,  and  indus- 
trious citizens.  When  the  Chaplain  had  concluded,  an  old,  col- 
ored man  rose  up  in  the  large  audience  that  had  assembled  in  the 
grove  to  hear  his  last  sermon,  and  proposed  to  take  up  a  collection 
for  the  benefit  of  Chaplain  Cartwright.  The  hat  was  passed,  and, 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  251 

full  of  greenbacks,  it  was  handed  to  the  Chaplain ;  he  took  the 
hat,  and  thanked  them  for  their  great  kindness,  and  then  told  them 
that  he  could  not  accept  the  money  from  a  poor  people  just  out  of 
years  of  bondage,  but  would  add  to  it  the  last  dollar  he  had  in  the 
world,  and  then  the  money  should  be  expended  by  them  for  books 
to  educate  their  children.  Chaplain  Cartwright  was  a  poor  man, 
but  he  was  too  rich  in  sensible  Christian  charity  to  take  a  gift 
from  the  Freedmen  to  whom  he  had  preached ;  to  their  charitable 
donation  he  added  his  last  dollar,  and  left  it  to  purchase  books  for 
the  children  of  the  black  people  there  assembled.  Chaplain  Cart- 
wright  was  a  genuine  Christian  minister,  and  the  best  Chaplain 
that  served  with  any  regiment  in  the  army.  On  the  twenty-first 
of  June,  the  Ninety-Second  was  ordered  to  be  ready  to  leave  for 
the  North-land  and  home  on  the  morrow — never  was  there  an 
order  more  joyfully  welcomed.  Early  on  the  morning  of  June 
twenty-second,  the  Regiment  marched  to  the  depot  in  Concord? . 
but  did  not  get  away  on  the  train  until  half  past  one  P.  M.  The 
train  arrived  in  Lexington  just  after  dark,  where  General  Atkins, 
in  the  absence  of  General  Kilpatrick,  was  then  stationed  in  com- 
mand of  the  Cavalry  Division ;  he  came  to  the  cars,  and,  with  the 
Ninety-Second,  proceeded  homeward.  The  train  reached  Greens- 
boro before  daylight  of  the  twenty-third  of  June,  and  the  Regi- 
ment left  the  cars  and  cooked  breakfast,  and  remained  until  eight 
A.  M.  of  the  twenty-fourth,  when  the  Regiment  again  embarked 
on  a  train  of  cars  for  Danville,  reaching  there  at  three  P.  M.  On 
the  morning  of  the  twenty-fifth  of  June,  the  Ninety-Second  again 
embarked  on  the  cars,  an\d  reached  Burkeville  Junction  after  dark. 
At  the  first  station  south  of  Burkeville  Junction,  the  officers  of 
the  Regiment  had  gone  in  advance  on  a  passenger  train,  leaving 
the  men  without  officers,  and  the  only  thing  that  mars  the  fair 
fame  of  the  Ninetv-Second  then  took  place.  Let  one  of  the 
soldiers  who  saw  it  tell  the  story ;  he  writes  in  his  diary :  "  The 
officers  got  on  a  passenger  train,  and  went  ahead  at  the  last  station 
on  the  road  up,  and  while  we  were  lying  over  for  a  down  train  to 
pass,  the  boys  made  a  rush  for  the  Sutler's  chebang,  and,  in  a  very 
unjust  manner,  completely  robbed  the  Sutler  of  all  his  stores,  and 
then  tried  to  upset  the  building.  There  were  no  officers  along  to 
put  a  stop  to  it.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  officers  ought  to  be  with 
us."  The  soldier  was  right,  and  the  blame  of  this  one  disgraceful 
act  must  rest  upon  the  thoughtless  officers;  had  they  been  pres- 
ent, it  would  not  have  occurred.  At  nine  P.  M.,  on  June  twenty- 
sixth,  the  Regiment  reached  City  Point,  on  the  James  River,  and, 


252  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

on  the  next  morning,  embarked  on  the  Philadelphia,  an  old,  leaky 
ferry-boat,  that  was  unfit  to  transport  troops  upon.  The  Captain 
of  the  boat  thought  it  would  surely  go  to  the  bottom ;  but,  bv 
pumping  hard,  and  hugging  the  shore,  she  reached  Baltimore 
safely  the  next  day  about  three  o'clock  P.  M.,  and  the  Ninety- 
Second,  after  taking  supper  at  the  Soldiers'  Home,  marched 
through  the  city  of  Baltimore  and  embarked  in  box  cars  for  Har- 
risburg,  at  about  eleven  P.  M.  Daylight,  on  the  twenty-ninth  of 
June,  tound  the  Regiment  at  York,  Pennsylvania.  There  were 
two  trains,  and  no  stops  were  made,  except  for  wood  and  water. 
The  Regiment  was  greeted  at  all  the  towns,  as  the  trains  rolled 
through  them,  with  waving  of  handkerchiefs  in  token  of  welcome. 
Breakfasted  at  Altoona,  and  was  sixty  miles  east  of  Pittsburgh 
the  next  morning,  detained  by  a  jam  of  trains  in  advance  of  the 
Regiment.  At  eleven  A.  M.,  of  the  thirtieth,  arrived  at  Pitts- 
burgh, and  dined  at  the  Soldiers'  Home.  Left  Pittsburgh  about 
three  P.  M.,  and  at  noon,  on  the  first  of  July,  the  train  halted  near 
Camp  Douglas,  in  Chicago,  and  the  Regiment  disembarked  and 
marched  into  that  camp,  and  was  put  under  a  regiment  of  the 
Veteran  Reserve  Corps,  on  duty  there.  Many  of  the  men,  as  soon 
it  was  known  that  the  Regiment  would  not  be  immediately  paid 
and  discharged,  were  granted  informal  furloughs  to  go  to  their 
homes,  and  return  by  the  seventh  of  July.  On  the  eighth  of  July, 
1865,  the  men  received  their  pay  and  final  discharge  papers;  and 
on  Sunday,  July  ninth,  1865,  the  officers  were  paid,  received  also 
their  final  discharges,  and  the  three  vears'  soldiering  was  done. 

The  Committee  who  have  jointly  had  in  charge  the  preparation 
of  these  pages  painfully  appreciate  how  poor  and  tame  is  the 
story  they  have  told  of  those  eventful  three  years.  But  they  trust 
it  will  revive  many  a  pleasant  memory,  as  the  surviving  members 
of  the  Ninety  .-Second  peruse  it;  while  life  lasts,  those  memories 
will  be  cherished  with  pride ;  and  thej-  ought  to  be.  It  is  some- 
thing to  have  been  a  soldier  in  the  great  war  that  saved  the 
Republic  that  Washington  founded,  struck  off  the  shackles  from 
the  limbs  of  four  millions  of  human  beings,  and  kept  "  the 
jewel  of  freedom  in  the  family  of  nations."  In  that  great  struggle, 
the  Ninety-Second  did,  everywhere  and  always,  its  entire  duty 
bravely  and  well ;  on  lonely  outposts,  serving  as  "  the  eyes  ot 
the  army,"  building  bridges,  mending  roads,  throwing  up  fortifica- 
tions, as  infantry,  as  cavalry,  on  foot,  on  horseback,  repulsing  the 
charge  of  the  enemy,  or  charging  the  enemy  with  shout  and 
cheer  and  the  terrible  music  of  the  rattling  Spencers,  in  camp 
•> 


NINBTT'SECOND   ILLINOIS.  253 

and  campaign,  in  bivouac  and  battle,  the  Ninety-Second  was 
always  obedient  to  orders,  guarded  with  jealous  solicitude  the 
honor  of  the  "  Stars  and  Stripes"  given  into  its  keeping,  and 
always  received  the  praises  of  Brigade,  Division,  Corps,  and 
Department  Commanders,  and  the  admiration  of  the  regiments 
with  which  it  was  associated.  The  members  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  have  good  reason  for  the  pride  they  feel  in  having  their 
names  associated  with  the  honorable  record  the  Regiment  made, 
and  their  children  after  them  will  tell  with  pride,  "  My  father  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Ninety-Second." 


NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 


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CHAPTER  VI 

EACH  COMPANY 

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Remarks 

(  Promoted  from  Eleventh  111.  Inft'y 
Vols.,  Sept.  4,  1862.  Promoted  to 
Brigadier  General  II  8.  V.,  by  bre- 
-{  vet,  at  Savannah,  Ga  ,  Jan.  J2,'65. 
Promoted  to  Major  General  U.  S. 
V.,  by  brevet,  to  date  from  March 
i.  13,  '65.  Mustered  out  June  21,  '65. 

j  Resigned  April  21,  1864.  Promoted 
I  to  Brev.  Brig.  Gen.  
Declined  Commission  
Mustered  out  June  21,1865  

Resigned  April  21,  '61.....  .... 
(Mustered  out  June  21,  1865.  Pro- 
1  moted  Brevet  Lieut.  Colonel  

*  Resigned  Oct.  1,  '64.  Promoted  to 
1  Major,  Reserve  Corps  ..... 
Mustered  out  June  21,  1865  

j  Promoted  by  President,  Capt.  and 
1  A.  Q.  M  „.  
Mustered  out  June  21,  1865  

Pres.  Resid'ce 

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>  Promoted  Second  Lieutenant  

Dis.  Jan.  27,  '65,  dis.,  gun  shot  wound 
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Mustered  out  June  21,  1865  
Mustered  out  June  21,  1865  

Mustered  out  June  21,  1865  
Discharged  April  12,  '63,  disability  

Hiprl  AlnrtTppshnm  Tprm  .Inlv  9.7  'fin 

ed,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  Feb.  17,  '63  
ed,  Danville,  Ky..  March  3,  '61  
scharged  April  3,  '64,  disability  
ustered  out  June  21,  1805  
ustered  out  June  21,  1865  

Muster.  Pi'es.  Kesid'ce 

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FIRST  SERGEANT. 
William  Tl.  Frost  .... 

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SERGEANTS 

Legrand  M  Cox  
Warren  C  (ioddard.. 
Jesse  K  Leigh  
Ledyard  B  Hakes  ... 

CORPORALS. 

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George,  Metcalf  
Abraham  H.  Dusenb 
Roswell  Kldridge  
Daniel  Denure  

NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 


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race  J.  Smith  

FIKST  LIEUTENAT 

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262 


NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 


Remarks. 

Mustered  out  June  21,  1865  
Absent,  sick,  at  m.  o.  of  Regiment  
Mustered  out  June  21,  1865,  as  Corp'l.. 

Mustered  out  June  21,  1865  
Absent,  sick,  at  in.  o.  of  Regiment  
Died  at  Nashville,  Tenn.  May,  5,  '63. 
Absent,  sick,  at  m.  o  of  Regiment.... 
Discharged  May  24,  1863  
Mustered  out  August  23  1865  
Died  at  Danville,  Ky.,Feb.  4,  1863  
Died,  Mt  Sterling,  Ky.,  Nov.  7,  l!-62. 
i  Dis.  July  31,  '61,  to  accept  commis- 
"|  sion  in  U.  S.  C.T  
Mustered  out  June  21,  1865,  as  Sergt... 
Mustered  out  June  21,  1865,  .as  Corp'l.. 
Diseliarged  March  18,  1864  ;  wounds... 
Transferred  to  Co.  G.,  65th  111.  Inf  
Mustered  out  June  21.  1865  
Discharged  September  9,  1863  

Mustered  out  June  21,  180ft  
Mustered  out  June  21,  1865  

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Pres.  Resid'ce. 

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Remarks. 

Deserted  Oct.  17,  1862  
Transferred  to  Company  K  
Mustired  out  June  21,  '65,  as  Corp'l... 
Musti  red  out  June  21,  1865  
Dis.  March  23,  1863,  as  Corporal  
Music  red  out  June  2l,l,S65  
Music  red  out  June  21,  1805  
.Musti  red  out  June  21,  1865  

niur-li  inri-il  Aiiril  80  ISfi3  .... 

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Musi.  'red  out  June  21,  1865  
Killed,  Cllickamauga,  Sept.  19,  1863... 
Mustered  out  June  21,  1865  
Mustered  out  June  21,  18C5  
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i  Promoted  Com  Serg't  ;  reduced. 
"I  Dis.  Nov.  25.  '63,  pro.  U.  S,  C.  T  
Mustered  out  Jnne  21,  1865,  as  Corp'l... 
Mustered  out  June  21,1865  
Mus.  out  July  22,  1865  ;  was  prisoner... 
Mustered  out  June  21,  1865,  as  Serg't,. 

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NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS. 


305 


€  tf 

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Rowland,  William  F 
Robinson,  Benjamin  D 
Rand,  Comodore  R 
Rahn,  Jacob  O 
Tagney,  Joh 
Tuller,  Oliver 


306  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

STATEMENT  OF  CHARLES  W.  REYNOLDS,  WHO  WAS  TAKEN 
PRISONER  AT  NICKOJACK — STATEMENT  OF  NATHAN  C.  TYLER 
— STATEMENT  OF  DON  R.  FRAZER — CARRYING  A  DISPATCH 
— A  CHAT  WITH  A  SOUTHERN  LADY — FORAGING  IN  SOUTH 
CAROLINA — VENISON  STEAK,  AND  How  THE  BOYS  GOT  IT — 
CAPTAIN  SMITH'S  NEW  BOOTS — SERENADING  A  DEAF  AND 

•     DUMB  ASYLUM. 

Charles  W.  Reynolds,  of  Company  I,  Ninety-Second,  was  one 
of  the  soldiers  on  picket  at  Nickojack  Gap,  Georgia,  on  April 
twenty-third,  1864,  and  he  thus  narrates  what  he  saw  at  the  time 
of  the  capture,  and  what  he  experienced  at  Andersonville,  and 
other  Rebel  prisons: 

Lieutenant  Horace  C.  Scoville,  of  Company  K,  was  in  com- 
mand of  the  outpost,  with  about  sixteen  men,  I  being  among  the 
number.  We  were  on  the  main  road  that  runs  south  parallel 
with  Taylor's  Ridge,  and  where  the  road  crosses  the  Ridge  and 
runs  to  Tunnel  Hill.  At  that  time  the  Union  army  lay  west  of, 
and  the  Rebel  army  east  of,  Taylor's  Ridge;  the  Union  troops 
being  encamped  about  Ringgold,'and  the  Confederate  army  south 
of  Tunnel  Hill.  Taylor's  Ridge  separated  the  two  armies.  Our 
post  was  near  the  Gap,  just  where  the  mountain  road  crosses  the 
Ridge,  our  reserve  being  a  little  way  in  rear  at  some  old  log 
buildings.  We  had  several  vedettes  out,  some  at  the  Gap,  and 
some  along  the  top  of  the  Ridge.  In  rear  of  our  post,  about 
three-quarters  of  a  mile,  was  another  post  of  about  thirty  men. 
We  had  been  on  duty  nearly  forty-eight  hours,  and  no  enemy  had 
been  seen  along  our  lines.  In  the  night,  under  cover  of  the 
darkness,  a  regiment  or  more  of  Rebel  infantry  had  crossed  Tay- 
lor's Ridge  in  our  rear,  and  barricaded  the  road.  I  was  at  the 
head-quarters  of  the  picket,  having  been  on  duty  during  the  night. 
My  brother  William  was  on  guard  at  the  head-quarters  of  the 
picket.  Just  at  daybreak  we  heard  firing  up  the  road,  at  the  top 
of  the  Ridge,  and,  instantly,  the  reserve  was  mounted,  and  await- 


MlNETT-SECONfr  ILLINOIS.  307 

ing  orders.  Lieutenant  Scoville,  observing  that  the  boys  on  the 
Ridge  were  having  a  lively  time,  ordered  some  of  us  to  go  and 
assist  them,  and  five  of  us  immediately  started.  We  soon  met  the 
boys  coming  down,  saying:  "  Fall  back  to  the  head-quarters  of  the 
picket,  for  the  Rebels  are  as  thick  as  bees."  The  bullets  were 
whistling  around  us — we  fell  back  rapidly,  but  before  we  reached 
the  picket  post  the  Rebels  were  charging  down  the  main  road 
from  the  Gap,  and  driving  everything  before  them.  Lieutenant 
Scoville  ordered  the  pickets  back  onto  the  reserve,  hoping  to  stop 
the  Rebel  charge  there ;  but,  instead  of  reaching  the  reserve,  he 
ran  into  the  trap  prepared  in  our  rear  by  the  Rebel  infantry,  and 
he  and  all  with  him  were  immediately  captured  or  killed.  The 
little  squad  I  was  with,  seeing  that  we  were  cut  off  from  our  main 
reserve,  took  back  again  through  the  fields,  the  enemy  on  both 
sides  of  us  and  in  our  rear,  and  popping  it  to  us  with  their  rifles, 
which,  in  the  morning  dawn,  was  not  a  pleasant  sight  to  us,  as 
the  flames  leaped  from  the  muzzles  of  their  guns.  We  were 
making  good  time,  and  we  hoped  to  reach  the  next  post,  when  we 
saw  that  the  Rebels  were  heading  us  off.  They  had  already  cap- 
tured Lieutenant  Scoville  and  the  men  with  him,  and  were  after 
us.  They  were  well  mounted,  and  dashed  forward,  and  cut  off 
our  only  hope  of  escape.  Up  to  this  time  I  had  done  more  run- 
ning than  fighting — I  changed  tactics,  and,  halting  my  horse,  I 
played  my  Spencer  Rifle  on  them  until  a  Rebel,  with  twenty 
more  closely  following,  came  upon  me,  the  Rebel  shouting: 

"  Surrender,  you Yankee  son-of-a ."     I  didn't  object  to 

his  abrupt  way  of  speaking,  but,  as  quietly  and  gracefully  as  I 
could,  I  informed  him  that  I  was  ,at  his  service.  He  told  me  to 
dismount,  and  give  up  my  arms;  then,  taking  my  horse  by  the 
halter-strap,  said :  "  Yank,  if  you  will  behave  yourself,  you  can 
ride  back  over  the  Ridge  to  our  lines."  I  mounted,  and  he  led 
my  horse.  He  questioned  me  closely,  but  I  was  not  very  com- 
municative. He  showed  his  generosity  by  giving  me  two  crack- 
ers, and  told  me  I  had  better  take  them,  for  it  would  be  a  long 
time  before  I  would  get  anything  to  eat.  I  took  them,  and  voted 
my  captor  the  most  gentlemanly  Reb  I  was  acquainted  with. 
Would  to  God  that  my  comrades  had  fallen  into  as  good  hands. 
We  soon  passed  our  captured  boys;  they  had  been  dismounted, 
and  were  double-quicked  to  keep  up  with  the  Rebel  cavalry,  now 
rapidly  falling  back  to  Tunnel  Hill,  evidently  fearful  that  the 
Yanks  would  follow.  But  our  camps  were  eight  miles  from  Nick- 
ojack,  and  they  need  not  have  been  in  such  a  hurry.  They  shot 


308  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

down  many  of  the  boys  who  gave  out  in  double-quicking.  My 
brother  William  was  shot,  after  his  capture,  because  he  hesitated 
to  pull  off  his  boots!  Lieutenant  Pointer,  of  Wheeler's  staff,  was 
the  wretch  who  murdered  my  brother.  When  Lieutenant 
Pointer  had  shot  away,  at  his  defenseless  prisoners,  all  the  shots 
in  his  revolver,  he  beat  the  disarmed  boys,  his  prisoners,  over  the 
head  with  his  heavy  navy  revolver;  he  knocked  Lieutenant  Sco- 
ville  over  the  head  with  his  revolver,  with  no  warning  to  Scoville, 
from  pure  maliciousness,  and  nearly  knocked  the  Lieutenant 
senseless.  Lieutenant  Pointer  was  a  contemptible  wretchs  I 
never  had  a  "  confidence  game"  played  on  me  until  then.  A 
Rebel  rode  up  to  me,  and,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  said  that  if  I  had 
any  valuables  about  me  I  had  better  give  them  to  him  until  we 
reached  Tunnel  Hill,  when  he  would  return  them  to  me.  I 
thought  it  very  kind  in  him,  and  gave  him  all  my  little  keepsakes, 
love  letters  from  "  the  girl  I  left  behind  me,"  etc.,  but  it  was  the 
last  I  ever  saw  of  that  kind-hearted  Johnny.  When  we  were 
safely  inside  of  the  Rebel  lines,  I  was  dismounted,  to  await  the 
coming  of  the  balance  of  the  Yankee  prisoners.  While  waiting, 
I  was  frequently  invited  to  "  shell  out "  all  the  valuables  I  had, 
but  all  I  could  do  was  to  inform  them  that  I  had  already  "shelled." 
One  Reb  proposed  to  trade  boots  with  me ;  and  trade  it  was,  with- 
out ceremony  or  delay ;  but  I  think  I  got  the  best  of  the  bargain, 
for  I  got  a  pair  of  number  nines  old  enough  to  vote,  for  a  pair  of 
number  fives.  Another  Johnny  unceremoniously  traded  hats 
with  me.  I  soon  found  myself  with  nothing  left  that  a  Rebel 
thought  it  worth  while  to  trade  for.  Everything  valuable,  or  sup- 
posed to  be  valuable,  was  taken  from  every  Yankee  prisoner;  but 
that  was  nothing  compared  to  the  cool  manner  in  which  the  infa- 
mous Lieutenant  Pointer  coolly  murdered  our  poor  boys.  At 
last,  all  that  were  captured  were  gathered  together,  and  marched 
to  Tunnel  Hill,  and  placed  in  the  railroad  station  house.  One  by 
one  they  were  taken  out,  and  questioned  and  cross-questioned  by 
the  Rebel  officers,  in  order  to  learn  the  strength  and  situation  of 
our  army ;  but  I  think  they  obtained  but  little  information  useful 
to  them  from  the  Ninety-Second  boys.  When  we  came  to  have 
roll-call,  we  found  twenty-one  of  the  Ninety-Second  boys  answer- 
ing to  their  names,  as  follows:  Lieutenant  Horace  C.  Scoville, 
Company  K ;  Wallace  Revelle,  Company  K ;  James  M.  Merritt, 
Company  K;  Benjamin  F.  Heistand,  Company  D;  E.D.Har- 
rington, Company  K;  William  Snyder,  Company  D;  David 
Shoemaker,  Company  D;  William  P.  Me  Worthy,  Company  I: 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  309 

Charles  W.  Reynolds,  Company  I;  Alexander  Baysinger,  Com- 
pany G;  Abraham  Houser,  Company  G;  Corporal  James  W. 
Starkey,  Company  H ;  Benjamin  Noe,  Company  H ;  Mahler  D. 
Kooker,  Company  H;  Henry  Miller,  Company  F;  William 
Guyer,  Company  E;  Coston  Z.  Best,  Company  E;  Francis  M. 
Chase,  Company  C;  Edwin  W.  Elliott,  Company  B;  Morris  R. 
Miller,  Company  A;  and  Nathan  C.  Tyler,  Company  A. 

We  were  captured,  and  were  bound  to  see  something  of  prison 
life  in  the  liebel  prison  pens;  but,  had  we  known  at  that  time 
what  per  cent,  of  our  little  band  would  never  see  the  Union  lines 
again,  sad  and  sorrowful  as  our  future  was,  it  would  have  been 
worse.  But,  at  that  time,  we  did  not  fear  them — we  were  soldiers 
under  the  "  Stars  and  Stripes,"  and  let  come  what  fortune  might 
bring  to  us,  we*  would  accept  it  uncomplainingly,  as  was  becoming 
to  soldiers.  We  had  abiding  confidence  that  the  Ninety-Second 
would  pay  the  Rebels,  with  fearful  interest,  for  what  they  had 
done  that  day.  At  three  P.  M.,  we  were  put  on  board  of  the  cars 
and  sent  to  Dalton,  where  we  were  placed  in  a  jail  with  a  hundred 
or  more  prisoners,  including  negroes,  Rebel  deserters,  and  Union 
spies.  Some  of  the  spies  were  to  be  tried  in  a  few  days,  and  they 
said  they  expected  to  be  shot.  Among  the  prisoners  were  a  num- 
ber of  Union  men,  arrested  for  their  loyalty  to  the  United  States; 
they  were  true  men,  and  preferred  imprisonment  and  death  rather 
than  service  in  the  Rebel  army.  Soon  after  we  reached  Dalton, 
we  were  taken  to  General  Hill's  head-quarters,  where  the  General 
and  his  ladies  appeared  quite  delighted  to  see  us.  We  were  again 
searched,  but  little  of  value  was  found.  At  five  P.  M.,  we  were 
placed  on  the  cars  again  and  started  for  Atlanta,  where  we  arrived 
at  eleven  P.  M.,  and  were  immediately  marched  to  the  military 
prison  and  locked  up.  At  four  P.  M.,  of  the  twenty-fourth,  we 
were  furnished  with  some  rations,  consisting  of  corn-meal  and 
salt,  the  first  food  since  our  capture.  We  went  to  work  to  cook 
our  corn-meal — but  our  boys  longed  for  some  of  Uncle  Sam's 
hard-tack,  even  if  it  was  branded  "  B.  C."  On  the  twenty-fifth, 
we  were  again  placed  on  the  cars,  guarded  by  the  Thirty-Fourth 
Tennessee  Confederates,  a  regiment  that  had  laid  at  Harrison's 
Landing  while  the  Ninety-Second  did  picket  duty  there.  They 
wished  to  know  how  "  Mother"  was  getting  along,  referring  to  a 
member  of  Company  H,  of  the  Ninety-Second,  who  had  crossed 
the  Tennessee  by  swimming  it,  at  Harrison's  Landing,  and  had  a 
chat  with  some  of  the  Thirty-Fourth  Tennessee  soldiers.  We 
arrived  at  Macon  the  same  day,  and  were  placed  in  the  city  prison, 


310  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

with  a  checker-board  iron  grating  to  look  through,  all  in  a  room 
i ox 1 2 ;  it  was  a  dismal  cell,  and  we  were  glad  when  ordered  aboard 
of  the  cars  again.  The  guards  told  us  we  were  bound  for  Ander- 
sonville !  They  told  us  it  was  a  fine,  healthy  place ;  that  the  pris- 
oners were  well  cared  for,  and  had  good  shelter  and  plenty  of 
food.  We  found  that  it  was  a  healthy  country,  full  of  pure  water, 
fuel  and  food ;  but  Rebel  diabolism  denied  to  us  poor  Yanks  the 
boon  of  fresh  air,  cold  water,  or  any  shelter,  and,  in  a  country  full 
-of  fuel  within  sight  of  our  prison  pen,  they  denied  us  wood  enough 
to  cook  our  scanty  rations  with.  We  reached  Andersonville 
about  two  o'clock  P.  M.,  on  the  twenty-sixth.  We  got  off  from 
the  cars  in  a  timbered  country,  with  a  dry,  sandy  soil.  About 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  away  we  could  see  a  large  enclosure,  com- 
posed of  timbers  set  in  the  ground  on  end,  close  together,  about 
fifteen  feet  high,  with  sentry  boxes  along  the  top — and  that  was 
the  Andersonville  prison  pen.  The  "  old  Dutchman,"  as  he  was 
called,  Captain  Wirz,  riding  a  white  horse,  came  along,  and  es- 
corted us  to  the  prison  gate.  Here  he  left  us  with  the  guards,  and 
himself  went  inside  to  learn  what  part  of  the  prison  to  assign  us 
to.  While  we  were  waiting  outside  of  the  prison  gate,  a  squad  of 
Yankee  prisoners  came  from  the  woods  with  armsful  of  fagots 
that  they  had  been  gathering  for  fuel.  At  first  we  thought  it  was. 
a  squad  of  negroes ;  but,  as  they  came  nearer,  we  saw  that  they 
were  Yankee  prisoners !  They  were  black  as  negroes,  and  such 
downcast,  hopeless,  haggard,  woe-begone  looking  human  beings 
I  never  saw  before.  They  said  they  were  glad  to  see  us,  but 
would  to  God  that  it  was  under  better  circumstances.  After 
awhile  the  prison  gate  was  opened  for  us  to  pass  through.  As  we 
entered,  a  sight  of  horror  met  our  eyes  that  almost  froze  our 
blood,  and  made  our  hearts  stop  beating.  Before  us  were  skele- 
ton forms  that  once  had  been  stalwart  men — covered  with  rags, 
and  filth,  and  vermin — with  hollow  cheeks  and  glaring  eyes! 
Some  of  the  Ninety-Second  boys,  in  the  heat  and  intensity  of 
their  emotions,  exclaimed:  "  Is  this  hell?  Great  God,  protect 
us."  Well  might  Wirz,  the  incarnate  fiend  who  presided  over 
that  Rebel  inferno,  have  written  over  its  gate:  "  Let  him  who 
enters  here  leave  hope  behind."  The  prisoners  were  divided  into 
squads  of  nineties — and  we  fresh-comers  were  distributed  around 
to  fill  up  some  of  the  nineties  where  others  had  died;  seven  of  us 
were  placed  in  the  same  part  of  the  prison,  and  we  formed  a  little 
family  of  ourselves,  for  each  other's  comfort  and  mutual  encour- 
agement. I  will  never  forget  my  first  night  in  that  horrible  place. 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  311 

There  was  a  heavy,  cold  dew  falling.  We  lay  down  in  the  sand, 
without  a  thing  Under  or  over  us,  and  already  nearly  stripped  of 
clothing  by  our  captors ;  and  there  we  lay,  seven  of  us,  spoon- 
fashion.  For  many  days  we  remained  so  exposed  to  the  cold  dews 
at  night,  and  the  scorching  sun  by  day,  until  we  managed  to  save 
some  of  our  scanty  rations  and  trade  them  with  our  starving  com- 
panions for  an  old  blanket  and  the  half  of  another  one.  Then  two 
of  the  boys  and  myself  went  to  the  prison  gate,  cut  the  buttons  off 
our  coats,  and  bought  our  way  out  to  the  woods,  and  each  brought 
back  an  armful  of  poles  and  wood — the  poles  to  make  us  a  shel- 
ter by  stretching  our  old  blanket  and  a  half  over  them,  and  the 
wood  to  cook  our  coarse  corn-meal,  which,  without  the  wcjpd  to 
cook  it,  we  would  have  h.ad  to  eat  raw.  When  we  had  fixed  up 
with  these  scanty  materials  as  best  we  could,  we  thought  ourselves 
quite  comfortable,  in  comparison  with  the  thousands  around  us 
who  had  no  shelter  of  any  kind.  And  this  in  a  country  filled  with 
timber  out  of  which  we  could  have  constructed  shelters,  if  our 
inhuman  and  fiendish  captors  had  only  have  permitted  it!  I 
shall  never  forget  the  unfortunate  predicament  we  were  in  when 
we  drew  our  raw  corn  meal,  cob  and  kernel  ground  up  together, 
and  we  without  a  dish  to  cook  in,  or  a  splinter  of  fuel  to  cook 
with.  Had  it  not  been  for  the  generosity  of  one  of  the  old  pris- 
oners, we  would  have  had  to  eat  it  raw — he  loaned  us  a  scanty  bit 
of  fuel  to  cook  it  by,  and  his  chip  to  cook  it  on.  As  soon  as  we 
saw  what  constituted  cooking  utensils  in  Andersonville,  and  were 
able  to  do  so,  we  procured  a  chip  of  our  own,  and  were  as  happy 
— aye,  as  we  could  be!  At  this  time  there  were  about  seven 
thousand  Yankee  prisoners  crowded  and  huddled  into  the  stock- 
ade at  Andersonville.  Nearly  all  of  them  had  wintered  at  Belle 
Isle  or  Danville.  They  were  almost  destitute  of  clothing,  and 
were  living  skeletons.  All  were  eager  to  find  out  the  prospects  of 
an  exchange,  and  the  least  encouragement  they  could  get  they 
would  catch  at  as  drowning  men  do  at  straws.  Every  day  we  all 
had  to  fall  in  by  nineties,  and  if  one  man  was  missing  that  could 
not  be  accounted  for,  the  whole  ninety  starving  skeletons  were 
kept  absolutely  without  food  that  day.  The  poor  fellows  tried 
hard  to  keep  up  good  spirits,  and  outlive  the  Confederacy.  About 
the  middle  of  May,  as  the  Union  armies  began  to  advance,  Yan- 
kee prisoners  would  be  brought  in  every  day,  and  from  them  we 
obtained  our  only  news  from  the  United  States.  The  Rebels 
would  never  let  us  know  what  was  going  on  at  the  front — only 


312  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

when  they  gained  some  slight  victory,  we  would  hear  them  boast 
of  it. 

It  would  be  remarkable  if,  among  so  many  men  in  horrible 
confinement,  there  should  not  be  methods  of  escape  devised  and 
attempted.  The  work  of  tunneling  out  was  silently  going  on,  and 
we  hoped  that  it  would  be  successful ;  but,  in  some  way,  the  Rebels 
discovered  it,  and  the  fiendish  Wirz  swore  that  not  another  morsel 
of  food  should  be  issued  to  any  one  of  his  thousands  of  starving 
prisoners  until  the  partly-constructed  tunnel  was  again  filled  up. 
Wirz  was  the  commander  of  the  interior  of  the  prison,  and  was  a 
wretch  of  the  lowest  type,  insolent,  overbearing,  heartless,  and, 
of  course,  a  coward,  for  no  one  with  a  spark  of  manly  courage 
about  him  would  come  among  helpless  prisoners,  famishing  for 
the  want  of  food,  and  draw  a  revolver,  as  he  did.  I  formed  the 
acquaintance,  in  Andersonville,  of  a  man  by  the  name  of  Henshaw, 
from  Lee  county,  Illinois.  He  had  made  his  escape  several  times, 
but  was  always  caught  by  the  bloodhounds  (nigger-dogs),  which 
the  Rebels  kept  for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  prisoners,  and  which 
rendered  it  almost  hopeless  for  any  one  to  attempt  to  escape.  In 
the  latter  part  of  May,  the  prisoners  arranged  to  make  an  attempt 
at  an  escape  on  a  grand  scale.  It  was  to  be  done  by  undermining 
the  stockade,  and,  at  a  given  signal,  in  broad  daylight,  a  rush  was 
to  be  made  by  the  prisoners  against  the  stockade,  and  topple  it 
over,  and  seize  the  Rebel  artillery  and  all  the  arms  and  ammuni- 
tion and  provisions  possible,  and  make  a  grand  attempt  to  reach 
the  lines  of  the  Union  armies.  But  just  before  the  time  for  action 
had  arrived,  we  found  the  whole  plot  had  been  disclosed  to  the 
Rebels — some  traitor  or  spy  had  given  the  minutest  details  of  the 
plan  to  Wirz.  Soon  after  the  following  was  posted  near  the  prison 
gate: 

"  NOTICE. — Not  wishing  to  shed  the  blood  of  hundreds  not 
connected  with  those  who  concocted  a  mad  plan  to  force  the 
stockade,  and  make,  in  this  way,  their  escape,  I  hereby  warn  the 
leaders,  and  those  who  formed  themselves  into  a  band  to  carry  out 
this,  that  I  am  in  possession  of  all  the  facts,  and  have  made  my 
dispositions  accordingly,  so  as  to  frustrate  them.  No  choice 
would  be  left  me  but  to  open  with  grape  and  canister  on  the 
stockade,  and  what  effect  that  would  have  in  this  denselv  crowded 
place  need  not  be  told.  May  25,  1864.  H.  WIRZ." 

The  only  consolation  left  us  was  that  we  had  badlv  frightened 
our  Rebel  guards.  About  this  time  Henry  Miller,  of  Company 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  313 

F,  of  the  Ninety-Second,  died,  the  first  among  the  Ninety-Second 
prisoners  captured  at  Nickojack  to  fall  a  victim  to  Rebel  cruelty. 
The  prisoners  in  Andersonville  were  dying  off  at  a  fearful  rate; 
especially  those  who  had  been  longest  in  Rebel  hands.  The  Rebel 
authorities  had  deliberately  planned  the  murder  of  the  prisoners 
in  their  hands  by  the  slow  process  of  starvation  and  disease — it 
was,  at  first,  slow  but  sure,  and  then  it  was  sure  and  rapid.  I 
have  counted  one  hundred  and  thirty  lifeless  skeletons  of  our  boys 
that  had  died  in  one  day.  You  might  walk  around  the  prison  any 
hour  in  the  day  and  see  men  closing  their  eyes  in  death.  Diar- 
rhea and  scurvy  appeared  to  be  the  most  fatal  diseases.  None  can 
know  the  horrors  of  scurvy  except  those  who  have  beheld  them. 
Sometimes  the  cords  of  the  victim  would  be  contracted,  and  the 
limbs  drawn  up  so  that  the  patient  could  neither  walk,  stand,  nor 
lie  still;  sometimes  it  would  be  confined  to  the  bones,  and  not 
make  any  appearance  on  the  outside ;  sometimes  it  would  be  con- 
fined to  the  mouth,  and  the  gums  would  separate  from  the  teeth, 
and  the  teeth  drop  out.  There  were  hundreds  of  cases  of  this 
disease  in  Andersonville.  I  have  seen  many  of  our  prisoners 
suffering  with  scurvy  actually  starve  to  death  because  they  could 
not  eat  the  coarse  corn  meal  furnished  by  the  Rebels  to  the  Yan- 
kee prisoners.  In  the  month  of  June  it  rained  continuouslv  for 
twenty-one  days,  and  it  was  not  strange  that  disease  multiplied 
in  our  crowded  prison  pen,  and  assumed  every  possible  form. 
There  were  fifteen  thousand  prisoners  in  the  stockade  during  all 
that  rainv  time,  without  shelters,  lying  out  in  the  storm  dav  and 
night.  I  cannot  describe  the  hopeless  misery  and  suffering. 
Imagination  cannot  conceive  of  it.  Night  after  night,  in  a  sort  of 
delirium,  I  have  dreamed  of  sitting  down  to  some  bountifully 
supplied  table,  away  up  home  in  Northern  Illinois,  and,  waking, 
would  find  myself  in  the  wet  sand,  cold,  and  nearly  famishing  for 
food.  One  principal  topic  of  conversation,  forced  upon  us  by  our 
sufferings,  and  the  cravings  of  hunger,  was  something  good  to 
eat.  If  any  one  knew  of  a  rare  dish,  something  especially  good, 
he  would  entertain,  and  momentarily  satisfy,  the  rest  of  his  mess, 
by  describing  it  minutely,  the  manner  of  cooking  it,  etc.  We  not 
only  lacked  food,  but  clean  water.  We  were  forced  to  use  the 
swamp  water  that  ran  through  the  prison  pen,  that  had  been  filled 
with  filth  by  flowing  first  through  the  Rebel  camps.  One  dav  a 
clear  spring  of  water  burst  out  near  the  swamp  inside  of  our 
prison  during  the  rainy  weather,  and  day  and  night  there  was  a 
continual  stream  of  men  there  trying  to  get  a  drink  of  clean 
39 


3H  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

water.  All  around  the  inside  of  the  Andersonville  Prison,  about 
fifteen  feet  from  the  stockade,  was  a  slender  pole,  or  slight  ditch, 
which  was  called  the  "  dead  line."  Any  one  who  put  his  foot 
beyond  that  line  was  a  dead  7nan — the  Rebel  guards,  without 
commanding  a  halt,  would  shoot  him  down.  Many  poor  fellows, 
so  starved  that  they  had  lost  their  reason,  crossed  that  line  uncon- 
sciously, and  were  coolly  shot  dead.  During  the  month  of  June 
prisoners  came  in  so  fast  that  the  Rebels  had  to  build  an  addition 
to  the  stockade,  after  which  there  were  about  thirty  acres  in  the 
entire  enclosure.  When  the  addition  was  completed,  they  made 
a  small  gap  in  the  stockade,  and  ordered  thirteen  thousand  pris- 
oners to  pass  into  it,  giving  them  two  hours  to  move  into  the 
additional  enclosure,  with  a  threat  to  deprive  them  of  the  few 
ragged  blankets  they  had  left,  and  their  rations,  if  they  did  not 
pass  through  in  the  time  allotted.  On  July  third  many  new 
prisoners  arrived,  and  the  entire  dav  was  spent  in  roll  calls,  and 
assigning  the  new  prisoners  to  fill  vacancies  in  the  companies  of 
nineties.  They  gave  us  one-half  pound  of  corn  meal  that  dav. 
On  the  fourth  of  July  we  received  no  rations  at  all,  nor  until  four 
o'clock  of  the  fifth,  when  each  man  received  one-half  pint  of 
corn  mush,  without  salt,  but  with  plenty  of  cob  and  husks  in  it. 
At  this  time  there  was  organized  among  the  prisoners  a  gang  of 
robbers,  or,  as  they  styled  themselves,  raiders.  They  would  steal 
the  rations  and  clothing  and  fuel  of  the  weaker  prisoners,  and 
when  they  met  with  resistance,  they  did  not  hesitate  to  commit 
murder,  and  more  than  one  poor  prisoner  was  murdered  by  these 
robbers  among  the  Yankee  prisoners.  Wirz,  the  prison  keeper, 
(and  I  tell  this  of  him  cheerfully,  for  it  is  the  only  good  thing  I 
can  sav  of  him,)  (old  us  to  form  a  police  of  our  own,  and  point  out 
the  guilty  ones,  and  he  would  have  them  arrested.  About  forty 
of  the  leading  spirits  in  that  robber  gang  were  captured,  and  tried 
by  a  jury  selected  by  the  prisoners  themselves — six  of  them 
were  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  On  the  twelfth  of 
July  a  gallows  was  erected  inside  of  the  prison,  and  at  four  o'clock 
P.  M.  Wirz  came  in,  with  the  six  prisoners  under  Rebel  guards, 
and,  said  Wirz:  "These  men  have  been  tried  and  convicted  by 
their  own  comrades,  prisoners  with  themselves,  and  I  now  return 
them  to  you,  in  as  good  condition  as  I  received  them.  You  can 
now  do  with  them  as  your  reason,  justice  and  mercy  dictate,  and 
mav  God  protect  both  you  and  them."  As  they  were  mounting 
the  scaffold,  one  broke  loose  and  ran  to  the  opposite  side  of  the 
prison,  but  was  soon  brought  back  and  placed  with  the  other  five. 


NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  315 

After  giving  them  time  to  make  a  few  remarks,  meal  sacks  were 
drawn  over  their  heads,  and  they  were  launched  into  eternity,  to 
meet,  perhaps,  a  more  merciful  fate  from  the  Judge  of  all  the 
world,  than  was  accorded  them  by  their  starving  and  dying  com- 
rades, whom  they  had  banded  together  to  rob  of  their  little  food 
and  clothing.  That  men  could  be  found  in  that  horrible  place 
ready  to  rob  the  dying  and  the  dead,  their  own  comrades,  is  a 
terrible  commentary  upon  the  sufferings  there  endured.  It  was 
near  this  time  that  Edwin  W.  Elliott,  of  Company  B,  died,  and 
many  more  of  our  little  company  were  slowly  starving  to  death, 
and  failing  day  by  day.  If  a  man  once  permitted  the  thought  to 
find  lodgment  in  his  brain  that  he  would  not  live  to  get  out,  he 
was  certain  to  die ;  there  was  one  thing  remarkable  about  it — 
you  would  never  hear  a  man  regret  that  he  was  about  to  die — it 
seemed  to  be  to  them  a  glad  feeling  of  relief  and  liberty  that  their 
sufferings  and  tortures  were  so  soon  to  end — the  gloom  of  Ander- 
sonville  was  darker  than  the  gloom  of  the  grave.  I  remained 
comparatively  healthy  until  July  twentieth,  when  I  began  to  see 
and  feel  the  unmistakable  evidences  that  I  was  to  suffer  with 
scurvy.  Within  ten  days  I  was  suffering  so  badly  that  I  could 
not  walk,  and  my  teeth  were  nearly  dropping  out  of  my  mouth, 
and  I  am  now  confident  that  I  would  soon  have  been  numbered 
with  the  fourteen  thousand  Yankee  soldiers  who  lie  buried  at 
Andersonville,  had  not  Nathaniel  Davis,  of  Company  K,  of  the 
Ninety-Second,  who  had  been  captured  and  just  brought  into  the 
prison  pen,  have  given  me  some  money  which  he  had  secreted 
about  his  person,  with  which  I  bought  of  my  Rebel  guards  some 
Irish  potatoes,  and  ate  them  raw.  In  two  weeks  after  that  I  could 
see  I  was  recovering.  To  my  comrade,  Mr.  Davis,  I  most  truly 
owe  my  life,  for,  without  his  timely  kindness,  I  surely  would  have 
died.  About  September  first  Sergeant  John  Spence,  of  Company 
F,  was  brought  to  Andersonville.  By  the  new  arrivals  we  kept 
posted  about  the  Ninety-Second.  Our  Rebel  guards  were  con- 
tinually setting  a  time  for  exchange,  and  our  boys  would  cheer  up, 
but  when  the  time  had  passed  the  boys  would  get  the  blues,  and 
die  faster  than  ever.  Our  Rebel  guards  gloried  in  our  disappoint- 
ments.  On  September  first  there  were  thirty-four  thousand 
Yankee  prisoners  in  Andersonville.  Our  guards  were  getting 
afraid  that  we  would  be  rescued  by  our  troops,  and  began  moving 
the  prisoners  out  for  different  points.  On  the  eight  of  September 
the  company  of  ninety,  to  which  Mahler  D.  Kooker,  of  Company 
H,  Morris  R.  Miller,  of  Company  A,  William  P.  Me  Worthy,  of 


316  NINE TT-SECOND  ILLINOIS . 

Company  I,  and  myself  belong,  was  ordered  out;  but  Miller  and 
McWorthy  were  so  weak  that  they  could  not  walk,  and  the 
guards  took  them  to  the  hospital.  Poor  boys,  they  were  heroes, 
but  they  could  stand  such  treatment  no  longer,  and  it  was  not 
many  days  until  we  heard  that  they  were  both  dead.  We  were 
crowded  into  old  box  cars,  sixty  of  us  into  a  car,  and  we  were 
soon  on  our  way,  via  Savannah,  to  Charleston,  S.  C.,  where  we 
were  placed  in  the  city  jail  yard,  under  the  fire  of  General  Foster's 
gun-boats,  where  the  Yankee  shell  were  bursting  continually 
around  us.  When  a  shell  would  burst  close  by,  the  boys  would 
set  up  a  cheer;  they  said  it  sounded  good,  for  it  came  from  home. 
We  were  placed  there  to  keep  Foster  from  shelling  the  .city,  but 
it  did  not  stop  the  Yankee  shell  from  screaming  through  the 
streets  of  Charleston ;  and  after  they  found  it  useless  to  keep  us 
there,  the  Rebels  moved  us  out  to  the  Charleston  fair  grounds, 
where  we  were  kept  for  five  weeks ;  and  we  there  received  the 
best  rations  ever  received  in  the  Confederacy,  and  had  the  benefit 
of  the  fine  sea  breeze,  and  the  poor  Yankees  began  to  recover 
health  and  spirits.  On  October  fourth,  we  were  again  placed  on 
board  the  cars,  and  taken  to  Florence,  South  Carolina,  and  again 
placed  in  a  stockade,  like  that  at  Anderson  ville,  but  not  so  ex- 
tensive. Lieutenant  Barrett  was  in  command  of  the  interior  of 
the  prison  pen,  and,  if  it  be  possible,  was  a  meaner  and  more 
fiendish  villain  than  Wirz.  We  had  plenty  of  fuel  for  a  time,  for 
at  first  there  was  plenty  of  timber  inside  of  the  stockade;  but 
our  rations  were  scantier  than  at  Andersonville.  For  three 
months  we  received  nothing  in  the  shape  of  meat.  Tunneling 
by  the  prisoners  was  attempted  to  some  extent,  but  without  suc- 
cess. At  one  time  Lieutenant  Barrett  had  an  idea  that  there  was 
a  tunnel  about  completed,  and  ordered  that  no  rations  be  issued 
until  the  facts  were  disclosed.  But  only  two  or  three  men  knew 
anything  about  the  tunnel,  and  they  would  make  no  disclosure, 
and  for  three  days  the  already  half  starved  ten  thousand  Yankee 
prisoners  went  entirely  without  any  kind  of  food,  and  hundreds 
literally  died  of  sheer  starvation!  I  believe  that  if  the  three  men 
knowing  about  the  tunnel  had  not  at  last  pointed  it  out,  every  one 
of  the  ten  thousand  prisoners  would  have  been  starved  to  death! 
About  this  time  George  M.  Frank,  of  Company  C,  Ninety- 
Second,  came  into  the  Rebel  prison  pen  at  Florence.  I  shall 
never  forget  the  expression  on  his  face  when  we  met.  He  could 
hardly  believe  that  I  was  the  same  boy  whom  he  had  known  as 
a  member  of  Company  I,  of  the  Ninety-Second.  I  did  not  weigh 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  317 

eighty  pounds,  and  yet  I  was  a  fair  specimen  of  the  Yankee  pris- 
oners who  had  been  long  in  Rebel  hands.  On  February  fifteenth, 
1865,  we  were  again  on  board  of  the  cars,  and  our  Rebel  guards 
said  we  were  going  to  be  exchanged.  We  had  been  so  often 
deceived  that  we  dared  not  believe  them.  We  passed  through 
Wilmington  to  Goldsboro,  and  then  to  Greensboro,  N.  C.  Here 
the  officer  of  the  guard  told  us  we  were  going  to  Richmond,  Vir- 
ginia, to  be  exchanged,  and  we  began  to  hope  that  it  was  true. 
At  Greensboro  seven  of  our  boys  actually  froze  to  death,  in  a 
country  covered  with  timber,  and  where  there  was  no  excuse  for 
it,  save  alone  Rebel  cruelty  and  heartlessness.  On  the  night  of 
the  twentieth  of  February,  we  arrived  in  Richmond,  and  marched 
immediately  over  the  frozen  pavements,  many  of  us  barefooted 
and  nearly  naked,  to  the  Pemberton  Prison.  On  the  twenty-third, 
we  signed  parole  papers,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty- 
fourth  of  February,  1865,  we  were  matched  on  board  of  a  Rebel 
steamer,  and  were  soon  on  our  way  down  the  James  River  to 
Aiken's  Landing,  where  we  crossed  the  line  between  the  two 
armies,  and  stepped  again  under  the  old  "  Stars  and  Stripes." 
Never  will  I  forget  my  feeling  of  happiness  as  I  stood  and  gazed 
at  the  dear  old  Flag,  'that  for  nearly  a  year  I  had  not  seen,  looking 
brighter  and  more  beautiful  than  ever  before.  Again  the  drum 
beats  roll-call,  and  we  gather  around  to  see  how  many  of  the 
twenty-one  captured  at  Nickojack,  on  the  morning  of  April 
twenty-third,  1864,  will  answer.  Nearly  half  will  never  answer 
roll-call  again  on  earth.  The  following  fell  victims  to  Rebel 
cruelty :  Henry  Miller,  Company  F,  died  at  Andersonville,  July 
tenth,  1874;  ms  grave  was  numbered  3139.  Morris  R.  Miller, 
Company  A,  died  at  Andersonville,  September  twenty-sixth, 
1864;  number  of  grave,  9795.  Edwin  W.  Elliott,  Company  B, 
died  at  Andersonville,  September  seventh,  1864;  number  of  grave, 
8084.  Sergeant  Benjamin  F.  Heistand,  Company  D,  died  August 
second,  1864,  at  Andersonville;  grave  numbered  4583.  William 
Snyder,  Company  D,  died  at  Andersonville;  number  of  grave 
not  known.  Coston  Z.  Best,  Company  E,  died  in  the  Rebel 
prison  pen  at  Florence,  S.  C.,  February  fourteenth,  1865;  grave 
not  known.  Alexander  Baysinger,  Company  G,  died  at  Ander- 
sonville; date  of  death  and  number  of  grave  unknown.  Corporal 
James  W.  Starkey,  Company  H,  died  at  Andersonville;  date  of 
death  and  number  of  grave  unknown.  E.  D.  Harrington,  Com- 
pany K,  died  in  the  Rebel  prison  pen  at  Florence,  S  C.,  October 
fourth,  1864;  number  of  grave  unknown.  William  Guyer,  Com- 


318  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

pany  E,  died  in  Andersonville  Prison,  August  eighth,  1864; 
number  of  grave,  5025.  William  P.  McWorthy,  Company  I,  died 
in  Andersonville  Prison,  September  twenty-fifth,  1864;  number  of 
grave,  9710.  What  a  story  of  death  the  numbers  of  the  graves 
reveal !  On  August  tenth,  1864,  when  Henry  Miller,  of  Company 
F,  died,  his  grave  was  numbered  3139;  on  the  twenty-sixth  of 
September,  1864,  Morris  R.  Miller,  of  Company  A,  died,  and  his 
grave  was  numbered  9795 ; — six  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  victims  to  Rebel  cruely,  whose  graves  were  numbered,  and 
many  graves  were  not  numbered,  in  one  prison  pen,  from  July 
tenth,  1864,  to  September  twenty-sixth,  1864! 

Nathan  C.  Tyler,  of  Company  A,  Ninety-Second,  was  also  one 
of  the  prisoners  captured  by  the  Rebels  at  Nickojack,  on  the 
morning  of  April  twenty-third,  1864,  and  Mr.  Tyler  makes  the 
following  statement: 

We  had  been  nearly  two  days  on  picket  duty,  at  Nickojack, 
eight  miles  from  camp ;  the  attack  upon  us  was  made  about  four 
o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  twenty-third  of  April,  1864,  the  out- 
post at  the  top  of  the  Gap  being  first  to  receive  the  enemy's  fire. 
There  were  twelve  men  at  that  post.  Lieutenant  Scoville  sent 
men  to  reinforce  the  post,  and  I  was  one  of  them.  Just  as  we 
reached  the  post  the  Rebels  came  on  in  full  force,  and,  at  the  same 
time,  strongly  attacked  the  main  reserve  at  the  foot  of  the  moun- 
tain. Finding  ourselves  completely  cut  off  from  any  support,  we 
started  toward  camp,  trying  to  reach  the  road  leading  to  camp  be- 
hind the  reserve  the  Rebels  had  attacked,  but  we  found  the  road 
blockaded  with  Rebels,  who  had  taken  up  position  in  the  rear  of 
the  reserve  and  barricaded  the  road.  They  had  crossed  the  moun- 
tain on  foot,  in  the  night,  and  taken  up  position  in  our  rear;  com- 
pletely trapped  and  surrounded  by  the  enemy,  we  were  captured. 
They  instantly  stripped  us  of  our  boots,  clothing,  watches  and 
money.  Some  of  our  men  were  deliberately  shot  down  by  them, 
after  our  men  had  surrendered  and  given  up  their  arms.  We 
were  double-quicked  to  the  top  of  the  mountain,  when  they  re- 
garded us  as  beyond  chance  of  rescue  by  our  troops,  and  we  were 
permitted  to  march  a  little  slower.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the 
mountain  we  found  a  regiment  of  Rebels  that  had  been  held  in  . 
reserve.  We  were  marched  on  to  Tunnel  Hill,  where  we  took 
the  cars  for  Dalton,  and  were  taken  to  the  head-quarters  of  the 
Rebel  General  commanding,  and  closely  cross-questioned.  We 
were  taken  from  there,  by  cars,  to  Atlanta,  and  [from  there  to 
Macon,  and  then  to  Andersonville.  We  were  drawn  up  in  line, 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  319 

and  the  roll  called.  Lieutenant  Scoville  was  sent  back  to  Macon, 
and  the  rest  of  us,  twenty  in  number,  entered  the  prison  pen.  We 
shuddered  with  horror  as  we  entered  that  living  tomb.  The  first 
thing  that  met  my  eyes  was  the  Rebels  carrying  out  the  dead 
from  the  prison.  They  were  carried  on  stretchers  to  the  gate  of 
the  stockade,  and  then  thrown  into  wagons,  entirely  nude,  from 
twenty  to  thirty  in  a  wagon,  promiscuously,  heads  and  feet  to- 
gether, and  hauled  away,  and  thrown  into  trenches.  When  we 
reached  the  inside  of  the  prison  we  found  the  most  wretched 
looking  human  beings  that  it  is  possible  for  the  imagination  to 
conceive  of — bareheaded  and  barefooted,  all  of  them  almost  naked, 
and  many  of  them  entirely  naked,  mere  skeletons,  filthy,  and  eaten 
up  with  vermin.  No  one  could  keep  clean.  No  soap  or  towels 
were  furnished,  and  not  even  water  to  wash  in.  I  never  looked 
upon  a  sight  so  appalling  before.  Our  hearts  sank  within  us,  and 
almost  quit  beating.  We  were  divided  up,  and  parcelled  out  to 
fill  up  the  companies  of  nineties,  taking  the  places  of  those  who 
had  died.  Our  rations  consisted,  at  first,  of  one-half  pint  of  corn 
meal  to  each  man,  ground  with  the  cob.  My  first  dough-cake  I 
baked  on  a  chip.  After  a  while  our  rations  were  furnished  to  us 
cooked,  but  not  increased.  This  kind  of  food — without  shelter 
from  the  storms  or  sun,  huddled  together  in  rags  and  filth — was 
too  much  for  the  strongest  of  us,  and  the  weakest  soon  died.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  we  must  all  inevitably  die,  and  not  one  of  the 
thousands  there  be  left  to  tell  the  horrid  story.  From  thirty  to 
fifty,  and  sometimes  more,  would  die  daily.  I  was  sick  a  great 
share  of  the  time — in  fact,  all  of  the  time — for  awhile  in  the  stock- 
ade, and  afterward  in  the  hospital,  which  was  simply  an  inclosure 
with  a  board  fence  around  it.  Our  only  shelter  in  the  hospitals 
were  old  tent  flys,  so  old  that  the  rains  sifted  through  as  readily 
as  through  a  seive.  The  hospitals  were  heavily  guarded.  Only 
the  worst  cases  were  sent  there.  I  was  in  the  hospital  nearly 
three  months.  I  speak  of  one  ward,  containing  hundreds  of  sick, 
and  myself  and  one  other  prisoner  were  the  only  two  that  ever 
entered  that  ward  during  those  three  months  who  came  out  alive. 
There  were  fifty  or  seventy-five  such  tents,  or  wards,  in  the  hos- 
pital grounds.  We  were  laid  side  by  side,  twelve  or  fifteen  in  a 
row,  close  together,  and  received  very  little  attention  during  the 
day,  and  none  whatever  during  the  night.  I  have  known  men  to 
die  early  in  the  night,  and  lay  close  by  them,  until  the  Rebels 
would  come  around  late  the  next  forenoon  and  remove  them.  I 
was  too  sick  and  weak  to  move  myself,  or  remove  the  dead.  If 


320  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

our  strength  recovered  a  little,  we  would  be  so  overcome  with 
hunger  that  we  would  dream  about  eating,  and  wake  up  with  our 
mouths  all  foam  and  froth,  and  feeling  as  if  we  could  eat  our  own 
hands  off.  Many  a  time  I  have  wished  for  the  poor  privilege  of 
skimming  a  swill  barrel  by  the  door  of  some  farmer  in  Stephen- 
son  county !  Often  I  thought  that  if  I  could  only  get  back  to 
Uncle  Sam's  afmy  rations  I  would  never  murmur  or  complain 
again.  Our  daily  talk  was  about  being  exchanged,  and  rumors 
would  be  set  afloat  almost  every  day  that  the  glorious  time  would 
soon  come.  It  seemed  to  us  that  if  our  pitiable  condition  was 
known  at  the  North,  something  would  surely  be  done  to  relieve 
us,  either  by  the  Government  in  securing  our  exchange,  or  by 
the  people  in  raising  an  army  large  enough  to  come  and  liberate 
us.  When  we  went  to  Andersonville  the  stockade  consisted  of 
about  eighteen  acres,  inclosed  by  a  tight  fence  twelve  or  fourteen 
feet  high,  made  by  setting  hewn  timbers  in  the  ground  six  or 
eight  feet  deep,  and  close  together.  On  the  top  of  the  fence,  six 
or  eight  rods  apart,  the  Rebel  guards  were  posted,  with  platforms 
to  stand  upon,  and  steps  to  ascend  and  descend  by.  Inside  of  the 
stockade,  a  light  fence,  two  or  three  feet  high,  run  all  around, 
about  fourteen  feet  from  the  stockade,  called  the  "  dead  line." 
The  guards  were  ordered  to  shoot  any  prisoner  crossing  the  "dead 
line."  I  remember  seeing  one  of  our  poor  prisoners  shot  for 
simply  reaching  his  hand  a  little  way  beyond  the  "  dead  line"  to 
get  a  chip  to  cook  his  coarse  corn  meal  upon !  Occasionally  we 
would  hear  the  yelp  of  the  hounds  in  the  heavy  timber  outside  of 
the  stockade,  after  some  poor  Yankee  trying  to  escape  from  that 
earthly  hell !  A  small  stream  of  water  run  through  the  prison 
pen  from  west  to  east.  One  time,  after  a  heavy  rain,  the  water 
undermined  and  broke  down  from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  of  the 
stockade.  The  Rebel  guards  raised  a  cry  that  the  Yankee  pris- 
oners were  going  to  make  a  break  to  get  out.  Wirz  sent  in  word 
that  if  any  attempt  to  get  out  was  made  he  would  turn  the  Rebel 
batteries  on  the  prisoners  and  kill  every  d — d  one  of  them.  I  was 
inside  the  stockade  eleven  months  and  four  days.  I  remember 
that  at  one  time  some  of  the  prisoners  formed  a  plan  of  escape  by 
digging  a  tunnel,  commencing  thirty  or  forty  feet  inside  of  the 
stockade  and  coming  out  on  the  outside.  They  worked  by  reliefs 
during  the  night,  under  an  old  tent,  used  in  the  daytime  by  the 
Rebels  to  distribute  rations  from.  The  dirt  was  carried  down  into 
the  middle  of  the  stockade,  by  the  creek,  and  so  well  was  the 
work  carried  on  that  the  plot  was  not  discovered  until  some  forty 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  321 

or  fifty  of  the  boys  had  got  through  the  tunnel  and  got  out  of  it 
on  the  outside  of  the  stockade.  But  bloodhounds  were  put  upon 
their  tracks  by  the  Rebels,  and  few  of  them,  if,  indeed,  any  of 
them  finally  reached  the  Union  lines.  Their  effort  exasperated 
our  Rebel  keepers,  and  made  our  miserable  condition  worse  than 
before,  if  such  a  thing  was  possible.  Soon  after  Lee's  surrender, 
and  Lincoln's  assassination,  I  was  removed  from  Andersonville. 
Lee's  surrender  caused  an  awful  alarm  among  the  Rebels,  but  the 
assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln  cheered  them  up  again.  I 
was  taken  by  the  way  of  Jackson  and  Meridan,  in  Mississippi,  to 
Black  River,  marching  the  last  thirty  miles  on  foot,  which  took 
us  six  days,  so  weak  and  feeble  had  we  become.  At  Black  River 
we  were  paroled,  and  I  then  saw  the  happiest  day  in  my  life — the 
dav  on  which  I  bid  good  bye  to  the  Southern  Confederacy.  Don 
R.  Eraser,  of  Company  I,  makes  the  following  statement: 

On  the  nineteenth  of  October,  1864,  while  assisting  in  shipping 
ammunition  from  Atlanta  to  Kilpatrick's  Division,  the  Rebel 
cavalry  captured  the  train  I  was  on.  Obstructions  had  been 
placed  upon  the  track,  and  the  train  was  wrecked,  and  the  Rebels, 
secreted  in  the  brush  each  side  of  the  railroad,  cut  off  escape  for 
all  upon  the  train.  The  Rebels  gathered  up  forty-six  Yankee 
prisoners,  and,  after  robbing  us  of  all  valuables,  and  most  of  our 
clothing,  started  us  across  the  country  toward  Alabama.  We 
trudged  along  down-hearted  enough.  After  a  few  hours  my 
thoughts  turned  upon  some"  method  of  escape.  Lieutenant  Colo- 
nel Showers,  of  the  lyth  Ohio,  was  among  the  prisoners.  I 
managed  to  get  in  conversation  with  him,  and  we  began  talking 
over  some  plan  of  escaping  from  our  captors,  but  our  guards  soon 
suspected  us,  and  we  were  separated.  Among  our  Rebel  guards 
I  recognized  an  old  acquaintance  whom  I  had  known  in  Jo 
Daviess  Countv,  a  private  in  the  First  Mississippi  Rebel  cavalry. 
We  had  quite  a  chat,  and  he  was  kind  enough  to  go  to  the  Rebel 
Captain  and  obtain  a  horse  for  me  to  ride.  In  four  days  we 
reached  Oxford,  Alabama,  having  had  rations  issued  but  once  to 
us,  a  little  meal  and  fresh  beef,  about  enough  for  one  good  meal. 
We  remained  at  Oxford  two  days.  I  there  became  acquainted 
with  Lieutenant  W.  D.  Stone,  of  Clauton's  Rebel  Scouts.  He- 
had  considerable  sympathy  for  us.  His  company  guarded  us. 
He  offered  to  assist  in  procuring  my  exchange — but  he  was  sent  to 
the  front,  and  I  to  Castle  Morgan,  at  Cahawba,  Alabama.  At 
Talladega  we  fell  in  with  more  Yankee  prisoners,  swelling  our 
numbers  to  about  six  hundred.  On  settling  down  at  Cahawba,  I 
40 


322  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

still  thought  much  about  some  plan  of  escape,  and,  taking  others 
into  my  confidence,  we  soon  had  made  up  a  party  of  fifty  agreed 
upon  making  an  attempt  together  to  overpower  the  guards ;  we 
had  everything  arranged,  even  to  the  hour  that  the  attempt  was 
to  be  made,  when  some  traitor  or  spy  among  us  told  our  plans.  I 
was  taken  out,  and  questioned,  and  the  six  hundred  that  went  into 
the  Rebel  prison  when  I  did  were  sent  to  Millen,  and  I  retained 
.at  Cahawba.  While  at  Cahawba  I  noticed,  for  the  first  time,  the 
effect  of  slow  starvation  upon  the  human  system — how  the  never- 
ceasing,  wolfish  cravings  of  nature  eat  out  of  a  man  all  human 
feeling,  eradicating  all  sympathy  and  benevolence,  leaving  noth- 
ing but  the  most  indurate  selfishness.  My  experience  in  Castle 
Morgan,  at  Cahawba,  was  short,  but  compared  favorably  with  the 
others  in  which  I  was  afterwards  confined.  The  officials  did  not 
appear  to  have  lost  all  human  feeling,  and,  although  the  amount 
of  rations  allowed  us  would  certainly  have  led  to  starvation  ulti- 
mately, the  unnecessary  cruelty  practiced  elsewhere  was  not 
adopted  to  the  same  extent.  On  account  of  our  plan  to  escape, 
all  who  were  suspected  of  being  connected  with  it  were  started  on 
the  cars  for  Montgomery.  We  reached  Columbus,  Georgia, 
about  dusk,  and  were  taken  off  the  train  to  camp  there  that  night. 
While  marching  from  the  train  I  noticed  several  smoke-stacks 
lying  on  the  platform — the  chance  of  escape  was  tempting,  and, 
in  the  crowding  and  contusion,  I  dived  into  one  of  the  smoke- 
stacks. After  the  crowd  had  gone  I  found  that  I  had  company — 
two  other  Yankees  had  adopted  the  same  plan — Harvey  Hart, 
from  Indiana,  and  William  Welch,  from  Iowa,  both  of  whom 
had  been  captured  at  the  same  time  with  myself.  Hart  told  me 
that  he  had  been  in  Andersonville,  but,  while  being  transferred  to 
Florence,  South  Carolina,  had  escaped,  and,  after  thirty-two 
nights  of  lonely  travel,  had  reached  the  Union  lines  near  Atlanta, 
but  had  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  again  captured  by  the  Rebels. 
Welch  told  me  he  had  once  been  a  prisoner  at  Macon,  Georgia, 
and  had  escaped  to  Atlanta.  We  cautiously  pushed  out  of  Co- 
lumbus. When  near  the  outskirts  of  the  town  we  were  hailed — 
but  our  hailers  proved  to  be  two  more  Yankees  trying  to  escape — 
"Lieutenant  Colonel  Showers,  and  Lieutenant  Hudson.  We  were 
glad  enough  to  meet,  and,  after  a  hearty  consultation,  we,  as 
nearly  as  we  could  guess,  started  northward ;  but  it  was  very 
dark,  and  we  frequently  found  ourselves  during  the  night  ap- 
proaching Columbus,  and,  at  daylight,  were  only  five  miles  from 
the  town.  We  knew  that  the  hounds  would  soon  be  on  our 


NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS,  323 

track,  and,  in  order  to  avoid  them,  we  waded  down  stream  in  a 
creek  for  nearly  a  mile,  and  climbed  into  trees  to  hide  for  the 
day.  About  noon  we  heard  the  baying  of  hounds.  With  beating 
hearts  we  listened.  If  they  were  really  on  our  track  at  all,  either 
our  marching  in  a  circle  during  the  night,  or  our  stratagem  of 
wading  in. the  running  stream,  deceived  them,  and  they  did  not 
come  near  us.  In  the  evening  we  approached  a  negro  shanty 
and  procured  a  meal,  and  continued  our  march.  In  the  daytime 
we  lay  concealed  in  the  woods.  The  next  night  it  rained,  and 
was  very  cold.  Hart  and  I  approached  a  house,  and  entered ;  one 
woman  soon  went  out,  and  the  others  told  us  we  had  better  leave. 
As  we  left  the  house  we  saw  a  man  with  a  torch,  blowing  a__tin 
horn,  as  we  supposed,  for  the  hounds,  and  we  all  scooted,  through 
briers,  over  fences,  through  marshes  and  creeks;  it  was  dark  as  a 
pocket.  No  hounds  followed  us.  Shortly  after  midnight  we  saw 
a  light,  and  flanked  it — farther  on  we  found  ^more^  fires,  and 
flanked  them — and  we  found  still  more  fires,  with  Rebel  soldiers 
around  them.  We  knew  we  were  near  a  camp  of  some  kind.  A 
wagon  train  moved  by.  Negroes  afterward  told  us  that  it  was  a 
portion  of  Hood's  army  moving  from  Jonesboro  to  Macon.  After 
a  deal  of  dodging  we  passed  the  Rebels,  or  they  passed] us.  At 
daylight  we  approached  a  negro  shanty,  wet,  cold  and  hungry ; 
the  negroes  gave  us  a  meal.  I  lay  down  on  the  floor  and  had  a 
chill  that  I  thought  would  shake  the  buttons  off  my  clothes. 
The  negroes,  not  daring,  to  keep  us  long  in  the  house,  took  us  to 
the  corn  house,  where  we  remained  until  evening.  On  leaving, 
one  negro  joined  us  in  our  tramp  for  freedom.  About  eleven 
o'clock  that  night  we  reached  a  negro  shanty  where  there  was  but 
one  man — a  miller — he  had  plenty  of  flour  and  bacon,  and  sup- 
plied us  with  a  lot  of  biscuit.  Another  negro  joined  our  party. 
At  dawn,  after  flanking  some  Rebel  soldiers,  we  passed  around 
the  town  of  LaGrange,  on  the  West  Point  Railroad.  Here,  by 
some  means,  our  party  became  separated,  Lieutenant  Colonel 
Showers  and  Lieutenant  Hudson  taking  one  road,  with  the  two 
darkies,  and  Welch,  Hart  and  I  another.  We  never  saw  them 
again,  but  heard  afterward  that  they  reached  the  Union  lines 
safely.  We  regretted  the  loss  of  the  biscuit,  which  the  negroes 
carried  in  pillow  cases,  but  not  the  company  of  the  darkies',  as,  if 
captured  with  them  in  our  company,  we  should  certainly  meet 
death  at  the  hands  of  our  captors.  We  went  into  the  woods  to 
sleep,  but  were  soon  awakened  by  the  baying  of  hounds — we  ran 
about  half  a  mile,  and  crept  into  a  tangled  thicket  of  blackberry 


324 

brambles ;  after  a  while  we  crawled  out,  and  pushed  on  through 
the  woods  as  fast  as  we  could  go,  and  found  again  a  secluded  spot, 
and  slept  until  darkness  came  on,  when  we  again  continued  our 
tramp  all  night,  and  slept  the  next  day.  The  next  night  Welch 
was  too  sick  to  travel,  the  weather  cold,  and  the  rain  pouring 
down,  and  we  crawled  into  a  cotton  gin  house,  to  rest,  and  went 
so  soundly  to  sleep  that  we  did  not  wake  until  after  daylight.  We 
dared  not  remain,  and  we  tried  to  dodge  along  into  the  woods 
again,  but  it  was  our  ill  luck  to  be  seen  by  two  Rebel  officers, 
fully  armed,  who  came  upon  us,  and  again  we  were  prisoners  in 
Rebel  hands.  After  considerable  cross-questioning  we  had  to 
own  up  that  we  were  Yankees  trying  to  escape  to  the  Union  lines, 
and  we  were  turned  over  to  two  of  Harvey's  scouts,  to  be  taken 
to  Newnan.  When  near  Newnan  they  stripped  us  of  our  cloth- 
ing, giving  us  the  rags  two  negroes  had  on,  who  were  with  them. 
They  turned  us  over  to  the  Rebel  authorities  at  Newnan,  and  we 
were  put  into  the  jail.  The  next  day  we  were  sent  to  West 
Point,  and  placed  in  jail  along  with  six  colored  men.  From  there 
we  were  taken  to  Andersonville.  We  reached  there  in  the  after- 
noon, but,  there  being  no  prisoners  there  at  that  time,  Wirz 
refused  to  receive  us.  We  remained  there  one  night,  and,  the 
next  morning,  were  sent  to  Millen.  It  was  about  one  week  after 
the  Presidential  election.  I  was  kept  there  about  three  weeks, 
when  Sherman's  army  was  getting  too  close,  and  they  marched 
us  to  Savannah,  Georgia.  From  there  a  part  were  sent  north ; 
and  a  part,  among  whom  my  lot  was  cast,  were  started  for  Black- 
shear,  by  rail,  on  flat  cars.  About  five  miles  below  Doctortown 
the  train  was  stopped  for  wood.  It  was  dark,  and  I  slipped  down 
between  the  cars,  and  lay  down  on  the  ties  close  up  to  the  wheels. 
When  the  train  had  left  I  found  that  I  had  five  companions,  but 
none  of  my  former  comrades.  After  consultation  two  started 
back  to  meet  Sherman.  Two,  who  belonged  to  the  tyth  Iowa, 
and  myself,  decided  to  try  to  reach  the  United  States  gun-boats 
of  the  blockading  squadron,  near  Brunswick.  After  traveling  part 
of  the  night  through  swamps  and  thickets  we  stopped  to  rest;  we 
took  off  our  clothing,  and,  wringing  the  water  out,  put  our 
clothing  on  again;  my  clothing  consisted  of  a  pair  of  cotton 
drawers,  and  part  of  a  shirt;  my  companions  were  a  little  better 
clad,  and  had  blankets;  we  lay  down  together;  when  we  awoke  it 
was  broad  daylight,  and  we  found  ourselves  almost  surrounded 
by  water.  In  the  evening  we  approached  a  negro  cabin  and  pro- 
cured food,  and  directions  as  to  the  course  to  travel.  We  passed 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  325 

around  a  station  on  the  Gulf  Railroad,  and,  at  daylight,  dived  into 
a  swamp  to  remain  during  the  day.  This  was  our  usual  course; 
we  never  approached  a  human  habitation  except  to  procure  food ; 
every  one  was  suspicious  of  us — even  the  house  dogs  appeared  to 
know  that  we  were  Yankees.  The  interminable  pine  forests 
appeared  to  be  full  of  Rebel  patrols.  On  one  occasion  we  called 
at  a  house  where  were  two  white  women  and  some  negroes,  who 
gave  us  a  good  supper,  and  while  we  were  enjoying  it  in  came  the 
planter  himself,  of  course  a  soldier  in  the  Rebel  army,  home  on 
French  leave.  He  seemed  very  friendly,  and  invited  us  to  remain 
all  night,  and  gave  us  very  lengthy  directions  about  the  road,  for 
which  we  were  very  thankful,  until  one  of  the  women  whispered 
to  me:  "  For  God's  sake  go  away — he  has  sent  to  Waynesville 
for  soldiers  to  capture  you."  I  told  her,  "  We  will  go."  I  said  to 
the  boys,  "  Well,  let's  go,  bovs."  Our  entertainer  urged  us  not 
to  be  in  a  hurry,  but  we  started  off  slowly  until  out  of  sight,  and 
then  "  scooted"  into  the  woods,  and  took  the  back  track,  and 
when  beyond  the  house  in  the  other  direction,  we  heard  mounted 
men  approach  the  house,  and  we  continued  our  march  on  the 
back  track.  For  six  days  and  nights  we  laid  low  in  the  swamps, 
assisted  to  food  by  negroes,  and  a  couple  of  Union  ladies.  We 
lay  there  hiding,  not  thirty  miles  away,  when  Kilpatrick's  Divis- 
ion, under  command  of  General  Atkins,  and  my  own  regiment 
with  them,  attempted  to  destroy  the  railroad  bridge  near  Doctor- 
town.  We  heard  rumors  from  the  negroes  of  troops  on  the  road, 
but  we  did  not  know  then  how  near  they  were  to  us.  When  we 
judged  it  safe  we  resumed  our  journey,  and,  on  reaching  Turtle 
River,  we  found  a  boat,  and,  as  it  proved,  most  unwisely  pro- 
ceeded down  the  river  in  it,  in  broad  daylight.  About  ten  o'clock 
in  the  morning  we  heard  one  of  the  United  States  gun-boats 
whistle,  and  our  hearts  beat  fast  with  hopes  of  reaching  the  gun- 
boat— but  soon  after  a  Rebel  soldier  hailed  us  with:  "Halloo, 
thar — come  in  out  o'  thar,  or  I'll  shoot!"  On  the  bank  stood  four 
Johnnies,  with  their  muskets  ready  to  shoot,  with  a  four-oared 
boat  tied  by  the  bank.  The  game  was  up.  We  deserved  to  be 
captured  for  navigating  that  river  in  a  boat  in  broad  daylight,  and 
our  foolhardiness  met  with  its  proper  reward.  When  we  landed 
they  inquired:  "Is  you'ns  Yanks?  Whar  is  you'ns  gwoin? 
Whar  did  you'ns  cum  from?"  Our  captors  treated  us  kindly, 
gave  us  plenty  to  eat,  and  their  officer,  Lieutenant  Beverly,  gave 
me  a  pair  of  cotton  pantaloons,  a  pair  of  shoes,  and  ten  dollars  in 
Confederate  money.  The  next  day  we  were  sent  to  Waynesville, 


326  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

where  we  remained  two  days,  when  we  were  sent  to  Blacksheai4, 
where  I  again  met  my  old  prison  comrades,  and  had  many  invita- 
tions to  join  in  overpowering  the  guards  and  trying  to  escape; 
but  I  was  sick  of  trying  to  escape  through  such  a  swampy,  deso- 
late country  as  that  along  the  Atlantic  coast  of  Southern  Georgia. 
After  a  few  days  I  was  sent  to  Thomasville,  with  many  others, 
arriving  in  a  hard  rain-storm,  in  which  we  stood  all  night,  in  a  field 
by  the  railroad.  In  the  morning  Captain  Bledsoe,  in  charge  of 
us,  gave  us  permission  to  cut  timber  and  build  us  shelters;  three 
others  and  I  scooped  out  the  sand  about  two  feet,  put  over  it  a 
ridge-pole,  and  covered  it  with  slabs,  and  made  us  a  bed  of  pine 
boughs.  We  were  allowed  plenty  of  wood  at  Thomasville,  and, 
together,  we  had  several  dollars  of  Confederate  money,  and  we 
were  very  comfortable  there.  But,  in  about  three  weeks  the 
Rebels  again  moved  us  to  Andersonville,  marching  us  on  foot 
fifty-five  miles,  to  Albany,  where,  at  night,  we  were  locked  up  in 
box  cars,  ninety  in  a  car,  so  crowded  and  smothered  that  twenty 
died  before  morning  in  the  car  I  was  in.  About  nine  o'clock  in 
the  morning  we  reached  the  old  Andersonville  Prison.  We  got 
off  from  the  cars  sick,  stiff  and  nearly  famished,  and  entered  the 
prison,  and  were  assigned  to  various  companies,  to  draw  rations. 
I  remained  there  until  about  the  twenty-fifth  of  March,  1865, 
when,  with  others,  I  was  put  on  the  cars,  expecting  to  go  to  the 
new  point  of  exchange,  Jacksonville,  Florida.  From  Albany  we 
marched  on  foot,  and,  the  first  night,  while  going  into  camp,  it 
was  whispered  among  us  that  we  would  be  sent  back  again  to 
Andersonville.  Sure  enough — Colonel  Jones,  the  Rebel  officer 
in  charge,  came  along,  and  said :  "  Boys,  you  are  ordered  back. 
Your  authorities  at  Jacksonville  will  not  receive  you."  Oh,  how 
cruel — our  own  officers  not  receive  us!  It  seemed  to  us  that  they 
did  not  want  us,  a  lot  of  starved  skeletons  that  might  never  be  fit 
for  duty  again — better  let  us  die  in  prison  than  be  troubled  with 
us.  I  watched  all  that  night  for  a  chance  to  escape  to  the  woods 
and  swamps  once  more,  but  got  no  opportunity.  Lots  of  the 
men  gave  up  trying  to  live,  and  died.  In  three  days  all  that  were 
left  of  us  were  back  again  in  Andersonville,  where  we  remained 
until  the  seventeenth  of  April,  when  we  heard  that  the  Union 
cavalry  were  approaching  from  the  direction  of  Montgomery, 
Alabama.  At  ten  o'clock  at  night  the  Rebels  put  us  on  the  cars 
and  started  us  for  Macon,  burning  up  the  stores  left  at  Anderson- 
ville, and  it  looked  as  if  that  hell  was  permanently  evacuated. 
We  did  not  reach  Macon — the  trains  ahead  of  us  came  back  with 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  327 

the  prisoners  aboard,  and  we  all  started  back  toward  Anderson- 
ville.  How  anxiously  we  wondered  if  we  would  stop  at  Ander- 
sonville!  We  came  in  sight  of  it,  and  the  train  rolled  by!  How 
glad  we  were!  We  grasped  each  other's  hands,  and  cried,  we 
were  so  glad.  We  reached  Albany,  then  marched  to  Thomas- 
ville,  and  then  to  Ocean  Pond.  Five  of  us,  and  I  among  them, 
were  set  at  work  making  out  new  paroles,  working  at  it  three 
days.  We  there  heard  of  the  surrender  of  Lee's  army,  and  of  the 
assassination  of  President  Lincoln,  «but  we  did  not  believe  either, 
our  guards  so  often  deceived  us.  They  piled  us  on  the  cars  and 
took  us  to  Baldwin,  twenty-seven  miles  from  Jacksonville.  They 
told  us  to  start — we  were  free,  and  must  walk.  Brown,  Ulmsted 
and  I  started  together.  After  a  while  said  I,  "  Boys,  let's  hur- 
rah?" "  No,"  said  Brown,  "  the  Rebels  may  change  their  minds, 
and  take  us  back !  Wait  until  we  are  safely  outside  of  their 
pickets."  We  did  cheer  when  Ave  got  safely  outside  of  their 
pickets,  and  with  light  hearts  we  kept  on.  About  nine  o'clock  the 
next  morning,  April  twenty-eighth,  1865,  we  caught  sight  of  the 
"Stars  and  Stripes"  floating  over  the  city  of  Jacksonville,  Florida. 
The  sun  grew  brighter,  and  the  air  fresher.  Oh,  how  good  the 
old  Flag  looked  to  us  as  we  marched  on !  How  happy  we  were 
when  we  marched  under  its  bright  folds,  with  uncovered  heads! 
We  were  at  last  at  home ! 

A  soldier  who  was  with   the   detail   sends  us  the   following 
account  of  carrying  a  dispatch : 

On  the  morning  that  Kilpatrick's  cavalry  took  up  its  line  of 
march  from  Marietta,  Georgia,  to  Savannah,  just  as  the  Ninety- 
Second  had  reached  the  top  of  the  hill  near  the  Military  Academy 
south  of  Marietta,  four  men  from  Company  D,  Corporal  Andrew 
Delhi,  and  privates  Ezra  Wallace,  Johnson  Lawrence  and  Albert 
Craven,  were  detailed  to  report  at  once  to  General  Kilpatrick. 
The  detail  immediately  reported  to  General  Kilpatrick  at  the 
head  of  the  Cavalry  Division,  and  the  Corporal  was  given  a  sealed 
dispatch  to  carry  to  Colonel  William  D.'  Hamilton,  of  the  9th 
Ohio  Cavalry.  General  Kilpatrick  told  us  that  our  undertaking 
was  a  dangerous  one,  for  the  woods  and  mountains  were  full  of 
bushwhackers,  but  that  we  must  trust  to  our  alertness  and  our 
trusty  Repeating  Spencer  Rifles.  We  were  directed  to  go  back 
as  far  as  Dalton,  should  we  not  meet  the  gih  Ohio  Cavalry  before 
reaching  there.  If  we  should  meet  the  gth  Ohio  before  reaching 
Dalton,  we  should  deliver  the  dispatch  to  Colonel  Hamilton,  and, 
with  the  gth  Ohio  Cavalry,  return  to  Kilpatrick's  command 


328  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

again.  But,  if  we  missed  the  gth  Ohio  entirely,  then,  on  reach- 
ing Dalton,  we  were  to  choose  between  the  chances  of  going  on 
back  to  the  garrison  at  Chattanooga,  or  making  an  attempt  to 
retrace  our  steps,  and,  following  on  in  the  track  of  the  army, 
rejoin  Kilpatrick's  Division.  So  we  four  started  back  northward, 
while  all  of  Sherman's  army  was  marching  southward.  Nothing 
occurred  to  break  the  monotony  of  our  ride  until  we  reached  Al- 
toona  Pass,  where  we  found  the  citizens  engaged  in  removing  the 
wounded  Rebels, who  had  been  there  since  their  fierce  attack  just 
after  Hood  had  commenced  his  march  toward  Nashville.  Some  of 
the  Rebel  officers,  who  were  but  slightly  wounded  and  had  their 
side  arms,  were  a  little  inclined  to  be  saucy,  and  intimated  that 
our  little  squad  might  have  a  body-guard  before  long;  but,  heed- 
less of  their  dark  hints,  we  pushed  on,  and  were  soon  winding 
our  way  along  the  lonely  road  around  the  sharp  crags  and  bluffs 
that  loom  up  on  each  side  of  the  road  north  of  Altoona  Pass, 
when,  as  we  made  a  sharp  turn  in  the  road,  we  saw,  only  a  short 
distance  in  front  of  us,  a  squad  of  about  thirty  Rebels  riding 
leisurely  and  carelessly  toward  us.  Quickly  our  four  Spencer 
Rifles  came  up  and  flashed  their  bullets  toward  the  Rebels.  In 
concert  we  shouted,  "  Forward,  forward,  come  on,  boys,"  and  we 
four  dashed  forward,  when  the  thoroughly  surprised  Rebels,  as 
demoralized  as  if  they  had  met  the  whole  of  the  Ninety-Second 
Regiment,  broke  and  retreated  in  confusion.  As  they  retreated 
before  us,  by  ones,  and  by  twos,  and  by  fours,  thev  dived  into  the 
woods  to  escape  their  pursuers,  and  verv  shortly  the  coast  was 
clear  in  our  front.  And  then  we  bovs  began  to  realize  that  our 
greatest  danger  was  at  hand ;  for,  we  knew  that  the  Rebels,  as 
they  climbed  the  hills  that  overlooked  the  road,  would  very  soon 
discover  that  they  had  been  bluffed,  and  would  rally  and  pursue 
us.  Our  forebodings  were  not  amiss;  very  soon  we  heard  the 
shrill  notes  of  a  Rebel  bugle  sounding  the  "  recall,"  and,  in  a  few 
moments,  the  scales  were  turned,  and  it  was  we  four  Ninety- 
Second  boys  that  were  fleeing  for  dear  life,  with  that  whole  pack 
of  Rebels  in  pursuit  of  us.  Our  pursuers  did  not  appear  to  be 
gaining  on  us  very  much,  until,  when  we  were  descending  a  steep 
pitch  in  the  road,  the  horse  that  Lawrence  was  riding  stumbled 
and  fell,  throwing  Lawrence  some  feet  ahead  of  his  horse,  and  so 
confusing  him  that,  when  he  regained  his  saddle,  he  insisted  on 
going  .back  instead  of  going  forward.  The  other  boys,  who  had 
halted  to  assist  him,  and  defend  him  by  pumping  their  repeating 
rifles  at  their  pursuers,  soon  convinced  Lawrence,  and  we  four 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  329 

again  dashed  forward.  The  Rebels  were  close  upon  us ;  but  we 
boys  knew  that  it  was  life  or  death  with  us,  and  with  our  spurs 
we  roweled  our  jaded  horses,  and  with  our  Spencer  Rifles  we 
sent  back  shot  for  shot  at  the  gray-coats  chasing  us — and  we 
answered  them  defiantly,  yell  for  yell.  The  race  was  exciting — 
our  horses  were  sensibly  slackening  their  speed,  and  the  Rebels, 
with  drawn  sabres,  and  yelling  at  us,  were  gaining  on  us,  and  the 
Etowah  River  was  close  in  our  front — our  fate  seemed  sealed — 
when,  suddenly,  the  pursuing  Rebels  stop  yelling — they  halt — 
they  are  themselves  retreating !  And  well  they  might,  for  the  Reb- 
els were  the  first  to  see  the  advance  of  the  gth  Ohio  Union  Cavalry 
coming  up  the  bank  of  the  Etowah  River.  Colonel  Hamilton 
sent  a  company  from  his  regiment  after  the  retreating  Rebels, 
but  darkness  soon  came  on,  and  they  made  good  their  escape. 
The  Corporal  delivered  his  dispatch  to  Colonel  Hamilton,  and 
with  the  9th  Ohio  we  joined  our  command  again,  and  marched 
with  it  from  the  mountains  of  Northern  Georgia  down  to  the 
sea-shore. 

On  the  ninth  of  September,  1863,  the  Ninety-Second  entered 
Chattanooga,  and  information  was  immediately  sent  to  General 
Rosecrans  that  Bragg  had  evacuated  that  place,  and,  with  rein- 
forcements from  Richmond,  intended  to  give  battle,  very  shortly, 
to  Rosecrans.  That  wily  Teuton  gave  no  heed  to  the  informa- 
tion— he  regarded  Bragg  as  flying  from  him  in  fear  and  dismay — 
a  thing  that  Bragg  had  no  idea  of  doing.  The  Ninety-Second 
marched  through  Chattanooga  to  the  mouth  of  the  Chicamauga, 
and  an  officer  of  the  Ninety-Second,  who  was  unwell,  stopped  at 
a  fine  country  mansion  by  the  roadside,  and  remained  over  night. 
His  hostess  was  a  Rebel  lady  of  much  intelligence.  We  extract 
from  a  letter  written  home  by  the  officer,  the  following  account  of 
his  night's  entertainment: 

I  dusted  off  my  clothing,  and,  with  the  aid  of  a  darkey  or  two 
washed  up,  and  was  soon  seated  at  the  supper  table.    The  party 

consisted   of    Mrs.    W ;   a   young   lady,   a    Miss    R , 

dressed  in  home-spun  of  excellent  manufacture;  and  two  pretty 
little  girls,  daughters  of  Mrs.  W .  My  hostess  was  an  intel- 
ligent lady,  with  very  agreeable  manners  at  the  table.  Supper 
over,  I  was  conducted  into  the  finely  furnished  parlor,  Mrs.  W. 
and  Miss  R.  accompanying  me,  and  conversation  ran  on  chattily 
between  the  Rebel  ladies  and  myself.  They  plied  me  with  ques- 
tions; how  long  had  I  been  in  the  service?  how  manv  men 
had  General  Rosecrans?  where  was  my  home?  why  did  I 
41 


330  NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

come  away  down  here  to  fight  them?  what  was  my  politics? 
what  did  I  think  about  the  war?  and  a  thousand  other  questions. 
After  a  while  I  asked,  "  Mrs.  W.,  where  is  your  husband?"  She 
answered,  "  My  husband,  at  my  request,  left  home  yesterday,  for 
the  middle  portion  of  the  State."  "  Is  he  in  the  Confederate  ser- 
vice?" I  asked.  She  answered,  quite  positively,  "  No,  sir;  he  is 
in  very  delicate  health,  and  has  been  for  more  than  three  years. 
He  is  not  able  to  do  any  duty  as  a  soldier;  otherwise  he  would  be 
in  the  Southern  army,  for  he  is  a  true  Southern  man.  I  wished 
him  to  go  away  from  home  and  stay  until  the  Yankees  were 
driven  back."  "  Indeed,  Madam,"  said  I,  "  that  was  cruel  in  you; 
for,  if  he  remains  absent  until  we  are  driven  back,  I  am  afraid 
you  will  never  see  him  again."  Miss  R.  smiled  in  derision,  and 
Mrs.  W.  confidently  answered,  "  O,  I  don't  know  about  that.  If 
my  seeing  him  again  depended  strictly  upon  your  being  driven 
back,  I  am  very  sure  I  would  see  him  again  before  many  days.  But 
I  did  not  wish  him  to  remain  here  and  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
Yankees.  He  is  a  true  Southern  man,  and  has  given  largely  to 
support  our  cause,  and  he  would  be  too  good  a  prize  fora  Yankee 
prison.  I  would  rather  never  see  him  again  than  to  have  him 
captured  and  thrown  into  a  Yankee  prison — the  very  thought 
almost  kills  me.  IToti  may  think  the  Yankees  are  going  to  hold 
this  country;  but  you  will  not  do  so  many  days."  And  then  she 
added,  smilingly  and  coaxingly,  "  How  many  men  does  General 
Rosecrans  have?"  I  answered,  "I  might  tell,  I  suppose,  very 
nearly;  but  you  must  excuse  me — it  would  not  be  soldierlvfor  me 
to  impart  such  information."  She  pleadingly  pursued,  "  O,  why 
not  tell  me — it  would  not  injure  your  cause  to  tell  me — I  am  sure 
I  will  never  say  anything  about  it,  and,  if  I  desired  to  communi- 
cate with  our  officers,  I  could  not,  for  I  am  inside  the  Yankee 
lines — do  tell  me?"  I  replied,  "  Well,  lines  sometimes  change, 
and,  besides,  it  is  very  easy  for  you  Rebels'1 — and  then  I  hesitated 
to  see  the  effect  of  that  term  ;  I  feared' that  it  was  a  little  harsh,  but  I 
began  to  feel  that  it  was  just — she  was  quick  to  see  my  hesitation, 
and  said,  "  Do  not  be  backward  about  the  use  of  the  word  Rebel, 
for  I  am  proud  to  be  called  a  Rebel."  I  continued,  "You  cannot 
be  prouder  of  that  term  than  I  am  of  Yankee,  and  so  we  will  use 
both  terms  without  offense  to-night.  It  is  verv  easy  for  you 
Rebels  to  communicate  -with  your  arm}',  although  you  are  within 
our  lines,  and  it  would  not  be  proper  for  me  to  impart  information 
regarding  our  army."  She  pleadingly  continued,  "O,  there  would 
be  nothing  improper  in  just  telling  me,  for,  as  I  live,  I  will  not 


NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  331 

tell  any  one.  You  can  just  give  me  an  idea,  without  committing 
yourself,  you  know?"  I  answered,  "No,  no;  you  know  that  I 
am  an  officer  of  the  Union  army,  and  to  impart  such  information 
would  be  doing  violence  to  my  sense  of  duty,  and  would  surely 
give  you  a  poor  opinion  of  a  Yankee  officer."  "  Well,  well,"  she 
said,  "it  will  do  no  harm  at  any  rate  to  say  where  General 
McCook  is,  and  how  many  men  he  has?"  "  1  beg  pardon,"  I  said, 
"  but,  really,  it  is  useless  to  press  such  questions  upon  me."  She 
smiled  pleasantly,  and  said,  "  I  do  believe  you  are  honest." 
"Well,"  I  replied,  "do  you,  really,  now?  That  is  compli- 
mentary." "  Oh,  no  offense,"  she  quickly  responded,  "do  not  be 
offended ;  I  did  not  mean  it  so."  The  conversation  ran  along  on 
many  subjects — I  endeavored  to  keep  it  away  from  anything  con- 
nected with  the  war,  but  the  ladies  would  bring  it  back  to  that 
again  and  again,  by  their  questions.  Said  Mrs.  W.,  "  I  don't  see 
how  so  fine  a  gentleman  as  you  are  can  think  of  living  under  Abe 
Lincoln.  What  do  you  think  of  his  Emancipation  Proclamation?" 
"  I  think  it  a  most  blessed  thing,  madam,"  I  replied.  She  con- 
tinued, "  Do  tell  me,  are  you  an  Abolitionist?"  I  answered, 
"  Well,  no — that  is,  when  the  war  broke  out  my  feelings  were  not 
that  way — but  they  have  changed  now.  When  the  Proclamation 
was  first  issued  I  did  not  exactly  approve  .of  it;  but  the  longer  I 
am  in  the  army,  and  the  more  I  see  of  the  Rebels,  the  better  \ 
like  the  idea  of  giving  the  black  man  his  liberty.  In  fact,  I  am 
beginning  to  like  it  considerably;  and  it  is  my  opinion  that,  if  the 
war  lasts  a  great  while  longer,  there  will  not  be  a  black  man  left 
in  the  Confederacy  to  darken  your  doors,  unless  it  is  with  United 
States  muskets  in  their  hands."  "  Do  you  really  think  so?"  she 
asked.  "  I  certainly  do,  madam,"  I  replied.  She  said,  "  O,  if 
Lincoln  would  only  withdraw  that  Proclamation,  I  believe  the 
war  would  soon  be  over."  I  laughed,  and  replied,  "  No,  it 
would  not.  The  Rebels  had  three  months'  notice  of  the  Procla- 
mation, and  refused  to  lay  down  their  arms."  She  petulently 
inquired,  "What  do  you  think  of  old  Lincoln,  anyway?"  I 
answered  warmly,  "Me!  I  think  that  Abraham  Lincoln  is  one  of 
the  greatest  and  noblest  men  now  living  on  earth."  "  Oh,  dear 
me,"  she  said,  "do  you  really  think  so?"  1  answered,  "I  do, 
madam."  "  Well,"  she  said,  "  I  believe  you  are  honest  in  it.  But, 
for  my  part,  I  cannot  see  what  there  is  to  admire  in  him."  I 
looked  at  her  and  at  Miss  R.,  and  smilingly  replied,  "  Procla- 
mation, ladies!"  They  dropped  their  eyes  for  a  moment;  then 
Mrs.  W.,  looking  up,  said,"  O,  that  nasty  Proclamation !  If  he 


,332  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

would  only  take  that  back — and  I  half  believe  he  will  have  to  do 
it  yet."  I  answered,  "  It  is  useless  to  think  so.  The  North  has 
been  lenient  to  Rebels  too  long  already."  I  was  anxious  to  drop 
the  subject,  and  made  many  efforts  to  change  our  conversation  to 
some  more  agreeable  topic.  I  asked  her  how  much  corn  she  was 
raising,  and  she  replied,  that  she  had  on  that  plantation  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  acres,  and  on  another  eighty  acres,  and  considera- 
ble on  another  up  the  Tennessee  River,  near  Knoxville.  The 
conversation  ran  smoothly  along  for  some  time  upon  other 
subjects  than  the  war.  But  after  a  while  Mrs.  W.  asked,  "When 
do  you  think  the  war  will  close?"  I  answered,  "  Not  until  the 
Rebels  lay  down  their  arms  and  submit  to  the  authority  of  the 
United  States."  She  earnestly  retorted,  "  They  will  never  do 
that."  "  Then,"  said  I,  "  the  war  will  continue  until  the  Southern 
people  are  annihilated,"  and  I  added,  half  jokingly,  "  if  the  war 
lasts  so  long,  you  may  never  see  your  husband  again."  She 
looked  at  me  inquiringly,  while  the  moisture  in  her  eyes  betrayed 
the  emotion  she  did  not  wish  me  to  notice,  and  said,  "  Do  you 
really  think  so?"  "I  do,  indeed,  madam."  "But,"  said  she, 
"  that  would  be  inhuman."  "  Not  more  so,"  I  replied,  "  than  a 
continued  resistance  to  the  authority  of  the  United  States.  There 
is  no  escape  from  it — sooner  or  later  the  South  must  submit  to 
the  lawful  authority  of  the  government  they  are  in  rebellion 
against."  "  But,"  she  replied,  "  I  know  that  the  South  will  never 
do  that."  "  Well,"  I  said,  "  the  question  cannot  be  argued  out 
with  words,  ladies.  Dreadful  war  must  settle  it,  and  one  side  or 
the  other  must  yield.  I  feel  sure  that,  in  the  end,  the  Rebels  will 
yield  to  lawful  authority.  I  might  be  as  positive  as  you  are,  and 
say  I  knoiv  they  will,  for  the  Rebellion  will  be  crushed  out,  even 
if  it  requires  the  death  of  all  the  Rebels  to  accomplish  it."  She 
answered  me,  "  I  believe  you  are  sincere,  for  I  have  never  con- 
versed with  a  gentleman  of  more  apparent  candor  and  earnestness. 
But  I  think — well,  in  fact,  I  know,  you  cannot  hold  this  country 
but  a  short  time  longer.  It  will  be  a  Buell  and  Bragg  race  for  the 
Ohio,  except  under  more  favorable  circumstances  for  us.  Gene- 
ral Rosecrans  will  be  driven  out  of  Chattanooga  into  the  Ten- 
nessee River.  I  do  not  believe  that  Rosecrans  will  ever  get  his 
troops  onto  the  north  side  of  the  Tennessee  again,  for,  when 
General  Bragg  commences,  he  will  give  you  no  time  to  cross." 
"  Well,"  I  replied,  "  I  believe  you  are  very  candid  with  me  in  this 
conversation.  But  I  feel  sure  we  shall  not  be  compelled  to  fall 
back,  unless  Bragg  has  a  much  larger  force  than  he  is  supposed  to 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  333 

have."  "What  force  do  you  think  we  have?"  she  asked.  I 
replied,  "  Well,  you  cannot  drive  us  back,  unless  you  have  at 
least  one  hundred  thousand  men  to  do  it  with."  She  quickly 
answered,  "  We  will  concede  to  you  a  greater  force  than  that,  and 
then  General  Bragg  will  whip  Rosecrans,  and  not  far  from  here." 
Not  far  from  here!  thought  I,  and  inquired,  "Why  do  you  say 
'not  far  from  here?'"  "Because,"  she  answered,  "  this  will  not 
be  far  from  the  battle-field,  and  we  shall  have  Chattanooga  too. 
I  wish  you  to  remember  this  conversation,  and  if  you  live  through 
the  battle,  which,  indeed,  I  earnestly  hope  that  you  may,  you  will 
find  that  I  am  right.  I  am  only  telling  you  what  you  may  as  well 
be  prepared  for,  and  I  do  hope  that  you  will  get  through  sate, and 
that  I  will  see  you  again  some  other  time,  under  more  favorable 
circumstances."  I  laughed  at  her  prediction  of  disaster  to  Rose- 
crans, and  turned  the  conversation  again  upon  other  matters,  and 
the  evening  wore  away.  At  a  late  hour  I  was  shown  to  my  room, 
and  Mrs.  W.  told  me  I  could  sleep,  without  fear  of  molestation,  in 
the  same  bed  that  more  than  one  Rebel  General  had  slept  in. 
With  a  pleasant  "good  night,"  I  was  left  alone.  At  daylight  I 
arose,  and,  going  out  on  the  back  porch,  was  putting  on  my  spurs, 
when  Mrs.  W.  came  out  through  the  dining-room  door,  and  bid 
me  a  cheerful  "good  morning."  I  arose,  and  greeted  her  as 
cheerfully  as  she  had  greeted  me.  We  chatted  cheerfully,  she 
urging  me  to  remain  for  breakfast,  and  ordering  her  servant, 
Cato,  to  give  my  horse  a  good  feed.  The  conversation  would 
turn  again  upon  the  war,  and,  Mrs.  W.,  looking  out  toward  the 
Chicamauga  River,  said,  "  Your  army  will  be  defeated  right 
here;  you  are  not  going  to  get  along  so  fast  as  you  think.  I  wish 
you  to  remember  what  I  tell  you."  "  Why,"  I  asked,  "  if  Bragg  is 
going  to  fight,  why  did  he  evacuate  Chattanooga?"  She  ans- 
wered, "That  was  not  done  of  necessity,  but  as  a  matter  of 
strategy  on  the  part  of  General  Bragg,  in  order  to  get  Rosecrans's 
army  among  the  mountains  on  the  south  side  of  the  Tennessee) 
where  escape  will  be  hopeless  after  the  sound  thrashing  Bragg 
will  give  Rosecrans."  Mrs.  W.  was  a  very  intelligent  lady,  and  I 
began  to  think  that  she  knew  what  she  was  talking  about.  She 
had  informed  me  the  evening  before  that  she  was  well  acquainted 
with  Bragg,  and  Wheeler,  and  Forrest,  and  other  Confederate  Gen- 
erals.- We  soon  went  into  breakfast,  which  over,  I  cordially  shook 
hands  all  around,  thanked  Mrs.  W.  for  my  kind  entertainment 
over  night,  and  bade  them  adieu.  As  I  mounted  to  ride  away, 


334  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

Mrs.  W.  said,  "  Remember  what  I  told  you."  I  replied,  "  O,  I 
will  remember  it.  Good  bye,  ladies." 

No  one  can  read  this  chat  with  Mrs.  W.,  an  intelligent  South- 
ern lady,  in  the  light  of  subsequent  events,  without  arriving  at  the 
conclusion  that  she  did  know  what  she  was  talking  about.  Bragg's 
evacuation  of  Chattanooga  was  entirely  a  question  of  strategy. 
He  fell  back  behind  the  Chicamauga  in  order  to  await  his  expected 
reinforcements  under  Longstreet,  from  Richmond,  and  in  order 
to  strike  Rosecrans's  columns  singly,  and  destroy  them  in  detail. 
That  explains  Mrs.  W.'s  anxious  inquiry  about  General  McCook, 
and  the  forces  under  him.  Failing  in  that,  after  his  reinforce- 
me/its  arrived,  Bragg  actually  struck  Rosecrans's  army  in  flank 
while  it  was  racing  back  to  Chattanooga;  and  Rosecrans's  army 
was  only  saved  from  meeting  the  complete  disaster  predicted  by 
Mrs.  W.,  through  the  heroism  and  soldierly  skill  of  one  of  Rose- 
crans's subordinate  Generals,  Major  General  George  H.  Thomas. 

J.  W.  Gushing,  of  Company  D,  sends  us  the  following  narra- 
tion ot  a  day's  experience  foraging  in  South  Carolina: 

On  the  thirteenth  of  February,  1865,  a  party  of  six,  including 
myself,  were  detailed  to  forage  during  the  day  for  our  company. 
We  left  the  command  at  daylight,  with  instructions  not  to  ven- 
ture more  than  five  miles  from  the  road  the  Regiment  was  march- 
ing on ;  and,  under  no  circumstances,  to  scatter  out  on  different 
plantations,  but  to  keep  in  a  body,  ready  for  battle,  and  with  our 
forty-two  shots  in  our  trusty  Spencers  defend  ourselves  if  occa- 
sion required.  We  met  with  no  difficulty  during  the  forenoon, 
and  had  no  success  in  foraging,  as  other  Yankee  troops  were 
ahead  of  us.  We,  therefore,  ventured  farther  from  the  command, 
and  had  better  success  in  finding  corn  for  our  animals,  and  hams, 
sweet  potatoes  and  chickens  for  the  men,  of  which  we  laid  in  a 
bountiful  supply  for  ourselves  and  comrades  in  camp,  when  we 
started  for  our  command,  which  was  to  camp  that  night  at  the 
junction  of  the  Charleston  and  Augusta  Railroad.  The  negroes 
informed  us  that  it  was  fifteen  miles  to  the  junction.  About  four 
P.  M.,  while  halting  for  lunch,  we  distinctly  heard  firing  a  long 
distance  in  our  front;  but,  supposing  it  was  some  of  our  own  men, 
killing  hogs  or  turkeys  or  chickens,  we  gave  no  heed  to  it.  On 
continuing  our  march,  as  we  rounded  a  curve  in  the  road,  we 
were  surprised  to  hear  from  a  Rebel  patrol  the  command  "  halt!" 
accompanied  by  a  shot  from  his  Confederate  musket.  As  quick 
as  thought  up  came  our  half  dozen  Spencers,  and  the  Rebel  patrol 
was  killed.  We  began  to  fear  trouble  ahead.  We  Captured  the 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  335 

Confederate  horse  the  patrol  was  shot  off  from,  and  loaded  him 
with  a  part  of  our  provisions  and  forage,  and  cautiously  pro- 
ceeded; after  we  had  traveled  some  distance,  coming  in  sight  of  a 
cross-roads,  we  saw  a  squad  of  a  dozen  Rebels,  having  a  joyous 
time,  judging  from  their  gleefulness.  They  had  not  discovered 
our  approach.  Some  had  on  blue  coats,  others  blue  pants,  and  it 
was  with  some  difficulty  we  determined  their  true  character.  We 
had  to  pass  that  point;  the  country  was  swampy,  and  no  other 
road  for  us.  We  formed  in  line  across  the  road,  and  quickly 
charged  them  with  a  yell,  pumping  our  Spencers  at  them  as  we 
rushed  toward  them.  They  were  completely  surprised,  and,  ex- 
changing only  a  few  shots  with  us,  they  retreated  up  one  of  the 
cross-roads.  And  our  eyes  here  met  a  sight  that  was  horrifying; 
there,  by  the  roadside,  where  the  Rebels  were  so  gleeful  when  we 
first  caught  sight  of  them,  lay  three  Yankee  soldiers,  two  of  them 
dead,  and  one  just  breathing  his  last.  I  put  my  ear  to  his  mouth, 
and  he  had  just  strength  left  to  tell  his  name,  company  and  regi- 
ment, and  say  that  "we  were  murdered  after  our  surrender." 
They  belonged  to  Company  D,  fth  Michigan  Cavalry,  of  Atkins's 
Brigade.  The  Rebels  had  captured  them,  and,  after  disarming 
them  and  stripping  them  of  their  valuables  and  clothing,  had  delib- 
erately shot  them  down.  A  negro  on  the  plantation,  who  saw  it, 
detailed  to  us  the  story.  We  ordered  the  negroes  to  bury  the 
murdered  boys  of  the  gth  Michigan,  and  moved  on,  and  had  not 
proceeded  far,  when  we  could  distinctly  hear  the  clatter  of  hoofs 
in  our  rear,  and  we  knew  that  the  squad  of  Rebels,  far  outnum- 
bering us,  had  rallied,  and  were  after  us.  We  started  our  Con- 
federate pack-horse  on  in  advance,  and  formed  in  line  across  the 
road  and  awaited  our  pursuers,  and,  as  soon  as  they  came  in  sight, 
we  gave  them  a  volley  from  our  Spencers,  and  charged  them, 
keeping  up  our  firing  while  charging,  and  driving  them  back  some 
distance,  when  we  wheeled  and  hastily  retreated.  The  gray-coats 
had  been  reinforced,  and  instead  of  a  dozen,  we  had  twdnty-five 
or  thirty  after  us.  We  felt  alarmed — it  was  nearly  twelve  miles 
yet  to  camp.  It  was  nearly  night,  and  we  hoped  our  pursuers 
would  not  come  on  again — but  we  soon  saw  a  squad  of  them  on 
our  left,  attempting  to  flank  our  little  party  and  get  ahead  of  us 
on  the  road.  We  whipped  up  our  Confederate  pack-horse,  and 
had  the  advantage  of  the  flanking  party,  as  they  were  going 
through  woods  and  fields,  and  had  occasional  fences  to  impede 
them,  while  we  had  a  good  road  to  march  upon.  It  was  growing 
dark,  and,  hopeless  of  reaching  the  road  in  our  front,  the  gray- 


336  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

coats  again  charged  our  rear;  but  we  halted  them  with  our  Spen- 
cers, one  of  our  boys  having  his  horse  shot  in  the  charge.  It 
began  to  look  like  a  capture  for  us — Andersonville  began  to  loom 
up  before  our  imaginations.  The  Rebels  were  in  rear  of  us,  and 
troops  approaching  us  in  front  also.  We  might  take  to  the  woods 
and  scatter,  and  trust  to  the  darkness  of  the  night  to  escape  our 
enemies ;  but  the  troops  approaching  us  in  front  proved  to  be  a 
squad  of  the  9th  Ohio,  of  our  Brigade.  They  were  in  our  advance, 
and,  hearing  our  firing,  had  returned  to  our  assistance.  The  Reb- 
els, probably  judging  from  our  cheers  that  we  had  been  rein- 
forced, did  not  molest  us  again,  and  we  returned  to  camp  with  the 
rations  for  our  comrades  and  forage  tor  their  animals. 

Richard  H.  Lee,  of  Company  B,  who  was  "  Orderly"  for  Cap- 
tain Horace  J.  Smith,  of  Company  B,  who  served  on  General 
Atkins's  staff  as  Brigade  Adjutant,  sends  us  the  following: 

On  the  morning  of  March  fifth,  1865,  I  was  sent  by  Captain 
Smith  four  miles  to  Division  head-quarters,  to  obtain  for  him  a 
pair  of  new  cavalry  boots.  I  returned  with  them,  but  they  were 
too  small ;  and  back  I  went  for  a  4arger  pair,  obtained  them,  and 
returned,  and  Captain  Smith  had  just  pulled  them  on,  when  a 
sharp  volley  was  heard  at  the  picket  post.  The  Captain  mounted 
old  "Possom,"  and  started  for  the  picket  post,  I  following,  but  he 
soon  directed  me  to  order  the  regiments  of  the  Brigade  to  saddle 
up,  and  T  returned  to  obey  his  order,  and  the  Captain  rode  out  to 
the  picket  post.  Giving  his  horse  to  a  soldier  to  hold,  he  climbed 
to  the  roof  of  an  old  log  house  to  discover  the  position  of  the 
enemy,  when  the  Rebels  charged,  and  sent  a  volley  toward  the 
post.  The  Captain's  new  boots  slipped  out  from  under  him,  and 
he  rolled  to  the  ground.  The  soldier  holding  old  "  Possom" 
thought  the  Captain  was  killed,  and,  letting  old  "  Possom"  go,  he 
retreated  with  the  picket  post.  General  Atkins  and  staff  were 
riding  toward  the  front,  and,  having  delivered  my  order,  I  rode 
with  them,  until  our  troops  came  back  pell  mell,  some  horses 
with  and  some  without  riders,  and  among  the  latter  was  old 
"  Possom,"  Captain  Smith's  horse.  I  caught  him.  One  soldier 
told  me  that  Captain  Smith  was  killed,  but  another  said  he  saw 
him  take  to  the  brush.  I  waited  with  his  horse,  hoping  he  would 
come  up.  The  Rebels  were  advancing,  and  shooting  so  carelessly 
that  my  hair  stood  on  end,  and  pulled  for  a  week  afterward.  I 
soon  saw  the  Captain  coming  through  the  brush,  and  beckon- 
ing me  to  hold  on.  I  waited  until  he  came  up  and  vaulted 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  337 

onto  the  back  of  old  "  Possom,"  and  we  hastily  retreated  within, 
our  lines. 

Dick  Lee  tells  the  folllowing  also: 

While  camping  for  the  night,  near  Wadesboro,  N.  C.,  a  tame 
deer  came  running  through  the  vard  near  the  camp-fire  of  the 
Brigade  Orderlies,  with  a  jingling  sheep  bell  attached  to  his  neck. 
One  of  the  boys  proposed  a  venison  steak  for  breakfast ;  it  would 
not  do  to  shoot  the  deer — but  we  soon  had  him  corralled  in  a 
corner  by  a  smoke  house,  and  not  many  minutes  after  he  was  cut 
up  into  steaks  and  distributed.  Then  out  of  the  house  comes  an 
old  man,  accompanied  by  a  staff  officer,  passing  close  by  us,  and 
we  heard  the  old  gentleman  say,  "  The  deer  is  one  I  am  raising, 
and  I  am  afraid  they  will  shoot  him."  The  officer  replied,  "  No, 
they  dare  not  shoot  in  camp,  and  if  he  is  like  some  dears  I  know 
of,  he  will  be  hard  to  catch."  The  old  man  replied,  "  If  I  could 
just  hear  the  bell,  I  would  drive  him  into  the  grove  back  of  the 
house,  and  feel  safe."  "  Elias,"  who  stood  by,  cautiously  picked 
up  the  bell,  and  we  soon  heard  its  tinkling  jingle  in  the  grove. 
"  There,"  said  the  old  man,  "  I  know'd  he  was  too  smart  for 
you'uns."  And  the  satisfied  old  gentleman  accompanied  the  staff 
officer  back  into  the  house. 

A  soldier  writes :  While  passing  through  Raleigh,  N.  C.,  one 
of  the  gayest  and  most  gallant  officers  on  General  Atkins's  staff, 
when  near  what  he  supposed  to  be  a  "  Female  Seminary,"  asked 
permission  of  the  General  to  take  the  Brigade  Band  and  serenade 
the  ladies.  The  General  tipped  a  wink  to  the  other  members  of 
his  staff,  and  gave  permission.  Away  went  the  officer  with  the 
Band,  and  music  was  soon  floating  out  on  the  air;  but  the  ladies, 
talking  to  each  other  by  making  signs  with  their  fingers,  soon 
revealed  to  the  officer  that  his  music  was  unheeded  by  the  deaf 
and  dumb  mutes  he  was  serenading.  The  officer  returned  with 
the  Band,  and,  until  he  was  mastered  out  of  service,  he  never 
heard  the  last  of  that  gallant  serenade. 

It  was  expected  that  this  chapter  would  contain  some  contri- 
bution, story,  personally  reminiscence  of  the  march,  battle,  picket 
duty,  scouting  or  foraging,  by  every  member  of  the  Ninety- 
Second.  But  the  members  of  the  Regiment  have  been  slow  to 
furnish  such  material,  and  the  Committee  on  Publication  can  onlv 
say,  that  they  have,  in  this  chapter,  made  use  of  all  the  material 
furnished  them. 


338  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  REUNION  AT  POLO,  SEPTEMBER  FOURTH,  1867 — GENERAL 
ATKINS'S  ADDRESS — A  REUNION  ASSOCIATION  ORGANIZED 
— THE  REUNION  AT  FREEPORT,  SEPTEMBER  FOURTH,  1870 — 
GENERAL  SHEETS'S  ADDRESS — THE  REUNION  AT  MOUNT 
CARROLL,  SEPTEMBER  FOURTH,  1873 — MAJOR  WOODCOCK'S 
ADDRESS. 

The  first  Reunion  of  the  Ninety-Second  was  held  at  Polo, 
Ogle  County,  Illinois,  on  September  fourth,  1867.  The  following 
account  of  that  Reunion  is  taken  from  the  public  press.  The 
Chicago  Republican  said:  v 

"  At  the  depot  the  Polo  band  welcomed  the  visitors,  and 
General  Atkins  found  himself  busy  for  a  season,  shaking  hands 
with  his  boys.  One  mile  away  a  beautiful  grove  was  prepared  for 
the  occasion,  and  thither,  in  line  of  march,  the  throng  pressed 
forward.  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  Major  Albert 
Woodcock."  There  was  music  by  the  band,  and  prayer  was 
offered  by  the  old  Chaplain  of  the  Regiment,  Rev.  Barton  H. 
Cartwright.  Then  followed  the  address,  an  hour  and  twenty 
minutes  in  length,  by  General  Smith  D.  Atkins,  of  Freeport,  the 
Colonel  of  the  Ninety-Second.  The  following  is  a  resolution 
adopted  by  the  members  of  the  Regiment  present  at  the  Reunion, 
immediately  after  the  close  of  General  Atkins's  address,  with  his 
reply : 

"Resolved,  That  we  have  listened  with  pleasure  to  the  address 
of  General  Smith  D.  Atkins  on  this  occasion,  and  respectfully 
request  a  copy  for  publication." 

"  POLO,  Sept.  4,  1867. 
"  To  the  Soldiers  of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Volunteers  : 

"In  compliance  with  your  resolution,  I  herewith  hand  you  a 
copy  of  my  address  at  your  first  Reunion. 

"  Very  Respectfully  Your  Obedient  Servant, 

"SMITH  D.  ATKINS." 


ILLINOIS.  339 

The  following  is  the  address  delivered  by  General  Atk'ins 
at  Polo : 

Soldiers  of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  : 

COMRADES — FRIENDS:  I  commence  my  remarks  with  con- 
flicting emotions  of  joy  and  sadness — joy  that  so  many  battle- 
surviving  veterans  are  here  to  answer  to  roll-call  to-day,  and 
sorrow  for  the  many  who  sleep  quietly  in  their  beds  of  glory  on 
the  battle-field's  holy  ground,  who  never  more  will  answer  roll- 
call  until  the  bugle  note  of  the  resurrection  reveille  shall  sound 
the  assembly  to  the  morning  call  of  the  grand  Adjutant  on  high. 
Hail,  survivors  of  a  most  glorious  band !  Citizen  soldiers,  and 
soldiers  that  are  citizens !  The  crowded  memories  of  the  last  five 
years  come  rushing,  thronging,  so  thick  and  fast,  like  battalions 
closed  in  mass,  that  I  find  it  difficult  to  detail  those  that  must 
perform  the  duty  of  a  single  relief  on  this  occasion. 

Five  years !  so  long  to  look  forward — so  short  to  look  back ! 
It  seems  only  yesterday  that  our  prairies  were  all  alive  with 
patriotic  ardor,  and  little  parties  were  traveling  over  the  country 
with  fife  and  drum,  holding  meetings  in  every  school-house, 
drumming  up  recruits ;  where  the  laborers  from  the  harvest  fields 
thronged  late  at  night,  and  glee  clubs  were  singing,  "  We  are 
coming,  Father  Abraham,  six  hundred  thousand  more,"  and  "We 
will  rescue  our  country,  we'll  save  her  or  die!"  Who  can  torget 
those  meetings,  or  would  forget  them  if  he  could?  It  was  in 
those  meetings  that  the  hearts  of  the  American  people  were 
touched  with  the  sacred  fires  of  liberty,  and  melted  into  a  patriot- 
ism from  which  was  moulded  as  heroic  deeds  as  embelish  the 
history  of  any  age.  How  many  a  husband  who  went  to  those 
meetings  with  no  thought  of  enlistment,  returned  to  his  wife  with 
tearful  eyes  to  tell  her  he  had  enlisted — he  couldn't  stand  it  any 
longer — the  dear  old  flag  of  his  fathers  had  been  insulted,  aye, 
liberty  was  in  danger — traitors  had  dared  to  raise  their  bloody 
hands  against  the  country  Washington  had  saved,  and  by  the 
memories  of  Bunker  Hill  and  Lexington,  and  his  gray-haired 
revolutionary  sires  who  had  bared  their  breasts  to  the  storms  of 
war,  he  must  go!  And  then  a  sleepless  night,  in  which  all  the 
little  plans  for  his  absence  were  discussed  and  the  good-bye  kiss. 
Ah,  boys,  you  will  not  soon  forget  your  partings !  Happy,  happy 
wives  that  have  your  husbands  back  again.  Happy  maidens 
whose  lovers  are  here.  Happy  mothers,  happy  fathers,  that  are 
here  with  your  soldier  boys  to-day.  But,  Oh!  God  pity  the  wives 


340  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

who  are  waiting  yet — the  maidens  whose  lovers  come  not  back — 
the  fathers,  the  mothers,  whose  darling  boys  shall  never  come 
home. 

In  this  Reunion  you  will  rapidly  live  over  again — you  already 
have  done  so — all  those  bloody  years;  you  already  have  recounted 
to  one  another  the  incidents  of  every  camping  ground,  every 
march,  bivouac,  skirmish,  and  battle. 

You  have  not  forgotten  Rockford,  where  you  took  your  first 
lessons  in  camp-life.  You  thought  the  rough  board  barracks, 
and  the  rations  prepared  by  loving  hands  at  home,  and  brought 
you  in  baskets,  hardly  good  enough.  You  thought  the  company, 
squad,  and  battalion  drills  hard  work;  but  you  learned  by  and  by 
what  a  terribly  in  earnest  thing  it  was  to  leave  a  citizen's  for  a 
soldier's  life.  Don't  you  sometimes  quietly  smile  when  you  think 
of  the  dirk-knives  you  bought,  the  pistols  with  which  you  loaded 
down  your  belts,  and  the  curiosity  shops  you  so  carefully  stowed 
away  in  your  knapsacks  to  the  tune  of  a  hundred  pounds?  When 
will  vou  forget  your  first  march  down  through  the  streets  of 
Rockford,  that  bright  October  morning,  nine  hundred  and  fifty 
strong,  with  colors  streaming  in  the  wind  and  martial  music 
filling  the  air?  How  many  tearful  eyes  were  there — how  many 
delicate  hands  waved  adieu,  as  the  train  slowly  rolled  off  bearing 
you  away ! 

And  you  have  not  forgotten  your  camp  in  the  old  field  south 
of  Covington,  Kentucky,  where  you  heard  the  first  hostile  shot, 
and  the  last  one  fired  by  Kirby  Smith  in  his  raid  on  Cincinnati. 
Do  you  remember  your  field  drilling  there — "  Foward  into  line. 
By  companies,  left  half  wheel.  Double  quick.  March!" — and 
away  you  went  tumbling  down  into  the  dark  ravines,  or  climbing 
the  sides  so  steep  you  had  to  cling  to  the  grass.  It  was  there  you 
drew  your  bell  tents,  and  a  six  mule  team  to  each  company  to 
"  tote"  your  "  traps."  It  was  there,  at  four  o'clock  one  afternoon, 
you  started  on  your  second  march,  thirteen  miles  on  a  good  pike 
road,  and  I  never  saw  a  Regiment  march  so  before  or  since.  A 
quarter  horse  was  nowhere.  I  couldn't  keep  you  back  !  But  the 
next  morning,  when  you  tied  your  boots  together  and  hung  them 
over  your  shoulders,  because  you  couldn't  get  them  on  your  swollen 
feet,  you  could  march  quite  comfortably  slow.  Do  you  remember 
how  the  sullen  roar  of  artillery  sounded  off  to  the  front  that 
evening,  when  Aids  came  riding  back  to  tell  us  somebody  was 
fighting?  But  you  got  used  to  artillery  after  that! 

You  remember,  too,  your  experience  in  Kentucky,  marching 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  34! 

along  by  the  plantations  of  the  rich  old  Rebel  planters  of  the 
blue  grass  region,  guarding  the  property  of  the  enemies  of  the 
country,  while  you  drank  out  of  their  cattle  ponds !  And  our  first 
entrance  into  Lexington,  the  home  of  Henry  Clay,  all  the 
Regiment  singing, 

"  We  will  rally  around  the  flag,  boys,  rally  once  again, 
Shouting  the  battle-cry  of  Freedom !" 

And  on  the  road  to  Mt.  Sterling.  Have  the  boys  of  Company 
"A"  forgotten  the  nice,  fresh  mutton  they  furnished  the  hospital 
one  day?  How  the  darkies  flocked  into  our  camp.  Have  you 
forgotten  Mt.  Sterling?  I  wonder  if  those  "  secesh"  planters 
have  got  their  slaves  back  yet?  Do  you  recollect  Winchester? 
It  seems  to  me  I  can  now  hear  the  "  tramp,  tramp,  tramp,"  of  the 
old  Regiment  on  the  broad  pike  road  of  Winchester  town,  with 
guns  loaded  and  bayonets  fixed,  while  the  crowds  ot  the  cadaver- 
ous looking  Kentuckians,  who  had  come  there  with  the  avowed 
purpose  of  suppressing  the  Ninety-Second  Regiment,  slunk 
away.  And  the  moonlight  evening  in  camp,  where  the  Major 
sang,  "  Dinah  am  a  handsome  gal,"  and  your  Colonel  got  down 
from  his  dignity,  and  showed  you  how  to  "cut  a  pigeon  wing!" 
And  on  to  Lexington  again — I  don't  imagine  the  State  of  Ken- 
tucky is  many  millions  better  off  for  the  black  boys  they 
compelled  you  to  return  to  them.  And  at  Danville,  where  our 
Band  was  organized,  and  our  glee  club  sang  at  our  dress  parades, 

"  So  let  the  cannon  boom  as  they  will, 
We'll  be  gay  and  happy  still, 
Gay  and  happy,  gay  and  happy, 
We'll  be  gay  and  happy  still." 

But  among  the  first  music  our  Band  learned  was  the  solemn  funeral 
dirge,  and  we  followed  to  their  burial  many  of  our  boys  at  Dan- 
ville. And  what  a  march  we  had  from  there  after  John  Morgan. 
Perhaps  the  regular  army  officers  thought  we  could  catch  that  bold 
rider  with  columns  of  infantry,  but  no  volunteer  officer  thought 
so.  How  the  rails  disappeared  that  dark  and  rainy  night  when 
our  boys  went  into  camp,  and  how  long  your  faces  were  the  next 
evening,  when  you  camped  again  in  Danville  on  the  very  ground 
you  had  occupied  before,  and  were  without  the  board  floors  to 
your  tents  which  you  had  made  bonfires  of  when  you  began  your 
march.  And  the  march  to  Louisville.  I  wonder  if  the  fellow 
who  got  his  skull  cracked  with  the  butt  of  a  musket  in  Louisville 


342  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

has  been  hunting  fugitive  slaves  lately?  And  down  the  Ohio  and 
up  the  Cumberland,  where  we  reached  Fort  Donelson  in  time  to 
see  the  dead  Rebels  that  Colonel  Harding,  of  the  83d  Illinois,  had 
mustered  out,  but  not  in  time  to  take  active  part  in  the  glory  of 
that  repulse.  And  on  to  Nashville  and  Franklin.  We  didn't  do 
much  fighting  at  Franklin,  but  we  cut  down  lots  of  timber,  built 
the  largest  kind  of  breastworks,  had  some  fine  Brigade  drills,  and 
turned  out  in  line  of  battle  regularly  every  morning  two  hours 
before  daylight!  It  was  at  Franklin  that  our  new  old  Chaplain 
came  to  us,  and  it  was  marching  from  Franklin  to  Triune  one  hot 
morning  that  you  threw  away  vour  blankets,  which  the  Chaplain 
kindly  gathered  up  and  piled  in  front  of  him  on  his  horse  and 
returned  to  you  again  on  going  into  camp,  when  some  graceless 
soldier  even  took  the  Chaplain's  blanket,  to  pay  him  for  his  pains! 
And  at  Triune  you  heard  Rebel  shell  go  fluttering  over  your 
camp  for  the  first  time.  And  from  Triune  you  marched  through 
rain  and  mud  to  join  the  right  flank  of  Rosecrans's  army  in  his 
movement  against  Tullahoma  and  Shelbyville.  Do  you  recollect 
your  march  from  Guy's  Gap,  with  the  "Johnnies"  captured  at 
Shelbyville,  and  the  plantation  kettles  full  of  coffee  Captain  Espy 
had  prepared  for  them?  Would  to  God  the  kind  treatment  we 
always  gave  the  Rebel  prisoners  had  induced  them  to  treat  kindly 
our  poor  boys  at  Andersonville  and  Libby.  And  from  Shelby- 
ville to  Wartrace,  through  the  hardest  rain-storm  that  ever  fell. 
And  the  building  of  the  bridge  over  Duck  River,  where,  while 
you  were  working,  details  were  made  to  gather  for  you  black- 
berries by  the  tub  full.  And  then  you  were  "  paddle-ducks"  no 
longer,  for  Wilder  came  along  and  "gobbled"  you  up  for  his 
"  Spencer  Brigade."  How  glad  your  faces  were  Avith  the  thought 
that  you  would  have  no  more  hard  marches,  loaded  down  with 
heavy  knapsacks.  And  what  a  gala  day  was  that  about  Columbia 
and  Shelbyville,  gathering  up  horses  and  darkies — the  horses  to 
mount  yourselves  upon,  and  the  darkies  to  muster  into  the  ranks 
of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland,  bearing  the  bright  banners  of 
liberty,  and  "  keeping  step  to  the  music  of  the  Union."  What  a 
funny  cavalcade  you  were,  mounted  on  Tennessee  plow  nags,  with 
citizen  saddles  of  every  pattern,  infantry  clothing  and  long  Enfield 
Rifles,  but  a  happier,  more  determined,  braver  set  of  men  never 
drew  rein.  General  John  E.  Smith  used  to  call  you  "  Mame- 
lukes," and  as  I  remembered  the  campaign  of  Napoleon  in  the 
shadow  of  the  Pyramids  of  Egypt,  and  the  annoyance  the  fiery 
Mamelukes  gave  him,  hanging  on  his  flanks  or  falling  like  an 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  343 

avalanche  on  his  detached  parties,  I  was  disposed  to  accept  as  a 
compliment  what  he  intended  as  a  jeer.  And  then  from  Decherd 
over  the  mountains  into  the  Tennessee  Valley,  at  Harrison's  Land- 
ing, where  one  of  the  Polo  boys  got  a  shot  in  the  arm,  sent  from 
Dixie's  land  across  the  Tennessee  River,  the  first  soldier  in  the 
Ninety-Second  wounded  by  Rebel  lead.  There  you  learned  that 
the  "  Spencers"  would  carry  f  arther  than  the  Enfields,  and  taught 
the  swaggering  "Johnnies"  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  to  "  hunt 
their  holes"  behind  their  breastworks.  And  here  it  was  that  our 
good  old  Chaplain  was  so  exercised  about  the  Tennessee  lady  that 
was  coloring  her  cotton  clothing  "  butternut."  How  his  voice 
rang  through  the  camp  as  he  went  hallooing,  "  Doctor  Winston ! 
Doctor  Winston!  There's  a  woman  'dying'  over  there!"  and 
Doctor  Winston,  good-natured  fellow,  couldn't  see  where  the 
"  laugh  came  in."  And  back  again  over  Walden's  Ridge,  down 
through  the  Sequatchie  Valley,  and  over  the  Tennessee,  to  report 
to  General  Rosecrans  for  special  duty,  the  only  mounted  force  at 
his  immediate  command,  for  all  the  cavalry  was  with  McCook  on 
the  right,  or  with  Wilder  and  Minty  on  the  left.  Colonel  Van 
Buskirk,  and  the  detail  with  him,  were  the  first  blue-coated  sol- 
diers to  drink  in  the  air  on  the  top  of  Lookout  Mountain,  and 
brought  back  the  first  authentic  intelligence  to  General  Rose- 
crans that  Bragg  had  evacuated  Chattanooga.  And  the.  next 
morning  it  was  your  honor  to  lead  the  advance  over  Lookout 
Mountain,  driving  the  Rebel  pickets  before  vou  and  into  the  town 
of  Chattanooga,  planting  your  colors  first  in  that  Rebel  strong- 
hold, while  columns  of  dust  from  the  fleeing  cavalry  of  the  enemy 
were  yet  rising,  and  the  rattle  of  advance  firing  sounded  on  the 
air,  and  made  it  possible  for  General  Wagner,  who  laid  idly  on  the 
north  side  of  the  Tennessee,  to  cross  over  in  a  skiff  and  telegraph 
over  the  country  that  he  was  the  first  into  Chattanooga!  And  on 
through  the  town,  after  Forrest  and  his  Rebel  horde,  to  Frier's 
Island,  where  Wilder  was  attempting  to  ford  the  Tennessee.  Do 
you  remember  your  camp  that  night  on  the  old  grape  plantation? 
And  then  to  Ringgold.  Can't  you  hear  the  bullets,  boys,  "  tszip,'' 
"  tszip,"  as  they  sounded  that  bright  morning,  our  first  prospect  of 
a  fair  stand-up  fight?  If  General  Van  Cleve  had  pushed  into 
Ringgold,  instead  of  stopping  for  an  artillery  duel,  we  would  have 
"  bottled  up"  Forrest  and  two  of  his  brigades.  And  away  toward 
Rossville,  saving  on  the  road  Crittenden's  wagon  train,  the 
Ninety-Second  coming  up  just  in  time  to  repulse  the  Rebel  charge. 
And  down  the  top  of  Lookout  Mountain  that  dark  night — "artil- 


344  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

lery  closed  up !"  to  Thomas's  head-quarters,  establishing  courier 
posts.  And  with  Turchin's  brigade  at  Dug  Gap,  where  the 
Rebel  army  was  held  in  check  irom  morning  until  sundown, 
waiting  for  McCook.  And  the  burial  of  Giles  at  night  with  light- 
wood  torches  'neath  the  fat  pines.  And  then  the  bloody  field  by 
Chicamauga's  dark  river!  Words  fail  me  to  tell  that  story.  When 
General  Reynolds  said  to  you  his  front  line  was  hotly  pressed, 
and  the  Ninety-Second  was  the  only  reserve  he  had,  you  hitched 
your  horses  to  the  trees,  and,  forming  as  infantry,  you  started  to 
reinforce  the  line,  and  found  the  regular  battery  already  captured, 
and  the  entire  brigade  cut  to  pieces  and  fleeing  before  a  tumultu- 
ous sea  of  Rebels,  and  you,  halting  in  the  open  field,  while  the 
enemy's  bullets  rattled  around  you,  and  the  fleeing  troops  of  the 
broken  brigade  crowded  past  and  through  your  line,  it  was  yours 
to  steadily  receive  the  shock  of  the  enemy's  victorious  charge,  to 
halt  it  in  your  front  by  your  heavy  volleys  of  musketry,  and  hold 
the  ground  until  your  artillery  had  left  you,  and  the  gray-coats 
were  surging  past  your  flanks!  Then  you  sprang  to  your  horses, 
and  while  the  flood  of  artillery  and  infantry  went  streaming  to 
the  rear,  you  faced  to  the  front  again,  and  passing  around  the 
Rebel  column  that  had  broken  and  penetrated  our  lines,  you  re- 
joined Wilder's  Brigade  and  formed  on  his  left  flank,  filling  a  part 
of  the  very  gap  made  by  the  assault  on  our  lines!  Were  you  not 
glad  when  General  Nagle's  column  marched  in  on  our  left?  How 
terribly  sounded  the  continuous  roll  of  musketry,  as  he  pushed 
out  on  the  enemy  in  the  gleaming  of  the  twilight!  Will  you  not 
hear,  ringing  in  your  ears  in  your  old  age  even,  the  agonizing 
cries  of  the  wounded  between  our  line  of  battle  and  the  enemy, 
crying  for  "  water!  water!!"  God  grant  that  in  all  our  fair  land 
such  cries  may  never  again  be  heard  except  in  memory. 

And  the  next  morning,  when  we  scattered  out  in  a  thin  skir- 
mish line  to  hold  the  entire  front  of  Wilder's  Brigade,  while 
Rosecrans's  lines  were  retired  to  the  hills,  and  sent  word  again 
and  again  to  McCook  of  the  heavy  columns  of  the  enemy  moving 
past  our  left,  and  when  the  shock  of  the  storm  of  which  we  had 
repeatedly  warned  him  burst  on  McCook,  it  scattered  his  thin 
lines  like  chaff,  and  left  us  nearly  surrounded,  and  we  only  got  out 
in  time  to  see  all  McCook's  corps,  like  a  cloud  of  dust,  floating 
away  from  the  field.  But  you  did  not  join  the  cloud!  With 
Wilder  you  gathered  up  the  wounded,  the  ambulances,  and 
deserted  artillery  left  upon  the  field,  and,  holding  the  Rebel  cavalry 
in  check,  sullenly  retired.  How  your  hearts  ached  to  be  with  old 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  345 

"  Pap"  Thomas  on  the  left,  where  the  Union  cannon  still  thun- 
dered defiance  to  Bragg's  minions  and  Longstreet's  legions! 
Companies  "  K"  and  "C"  were  there  to  witness  the  bull-dog 
tenacity  of  the  hero  of  Chicamauga,  and  have  a  part  in  the  glory 
achieved  by  the  troops  under  Thomas.  And  away  again  to  Har- 
rison's Landing,  picketing  the  Tennessee,  and  back  again  over 
Walden's  Ridge  to  Caperton's  Ferry,  to  Huntsville,  to  Trianna, 
where  Colonel  Sheets  "didn't  catch  a  fish,"  but  where  we  had 
plenty  of  forage  for  our  jaded  animals,  and  where  Skinner  and 
his  scouts  had  plenty  of  riding,  and  played  many  a  trick  on  the 
confiding  "Johnnies"  on  the  south  side  of  the  Tennessee.  And 
then  back  again  to  Ringgold,  where  we  went  into  Kilpatrick's 
Division,  and  had  a  camp  in  the  open  field  so  finely  policed  and 
shaded  with  artificially  planted  evergreens,  that  General  Elliott 
pronounced  it  the  handsomest  camp  in  the  Army  of  the  Cumber- 
land, and  the  onh'  camp  in  the  cavalry.  I  can  see  the  camp  now, 
with  Taylor's  Ridge  sweeping  away  to  the  south;  and  oh!  what 
sad  memories  come  back  to  me  as  I  remember  the  bloody  mas- 
sacre of  our  poor  boys  captured  at  Nickojack  Trace!  I  had 
solemnly  protested  against  picketing  eight  miles  away,  and 
expected  disaster  at  that  post;  but  I  did  not  expect  that  soldiers 
captured  bravely  fighting  would  be  brutally  murdered  after  they 
had  laid  down  their  arms!  No  civilized  people  could  be  thus 
guilty!  It  required  a  barbarism  that  had  enslaved  four  millions 
of  men,  lifted  its  bloody  hands  against  the  temple  of  liberty 
WASHINGTON  had  raised,  contrived  and  executed  the  horrible 
tortures  of  Andersonville,  Millen,  Salisbury  and  Bell  Isle,  and 
culminated  in  the  assassination  of  the  great  and  good  LINCOLN,  to 
produce  the  libel  on  a  soldier  or  a  man  that  could  coolly  murder  a 
captured  enemy,  as  our  poor  boys  at  Nickojack  were  mbrdered. 
Whenever  I  think  of  the  brave  men  so  cruelly  butchered,  I  will 
curse  the  cowardly  guilty  criminals  who  did  it,  and  curse  the 
treason  that  was  the  father  of  the  crime.  But  a  day  or  two  after 
Nickojack,  when  we  pushed  the  enemy  down  to  Tunnel  Hill, 
many  a  gray-coated  Rebel  bit  the  dust,  when  you  went  into  battle 
shouting,  "  Boys,  remember  Nickojack!"  And  then  with  Kil- 
patrick  in  the  lead  on  Rockyface,  and  through  Snake  Creek 
Gap  to  Reseca,  where  our  little  General  was  wounded,  and  on  to 
Lay's  Ferry,  and  Adairsville,  and  Kingston,  and  while  Sherman 
was  thundering  against  Atlanta,  scattered  along  the  line  of  rail- 
road keeping  open  communications,  or  under  Major  Woodcock 
on  the  wild  ride  around  at  Atlanta,  and  at  Jonesboro,  Flint  River 
43 


346  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

and  Lovejoy's.  And  at  all  these  places  the  music  of  your 
"  Spencers"  was  heard  whenever  a  gray -coated  "  Johnny"  was 
seen,  heard  first,  and  heard  latest — when  we  heard  their  sharp 
rattle,  we  knew  the  enemy  was  near,  and  when  we  no  longer 
heard  it,  we  knew  the  enemy  had  gone. 

And  when  Sherman  captured  Atlanta  and  gave  his  army  rest, 
you  lay  in  camp  on  half  rations,  while  your  Division  Commissary 
was  running  bakeries,  and  selling  you  bread  at  a  shilling  a  loaf ! 
And  when  Hood  started  around  Sherman  on  his  campaign 
against  Nashville,  it  was  yours  to  lead  Sherman's  columns 
against  him,  and  gallantly  achieve  new  laurels  at  Powder  Springs 
and  Van  Wert.  Do  you  remember  how  you  drove  the  enemy 
from  Powder  River  and  pushed  up  to  the  village  of  Powder 
Springs,  under  the  command  of  Captain  Preston,  until  you  de- 
veloped the  long  line  of  the  enemy,  and  drew  the  fire  of  his  light 
and  heavy  artillery,  and  then  retired  bearing  your  wounded  and 
your  dead?  Do  you  remember  your  charge  at  Van  Wert  and  the 
music  of  the  dozen  Rebel  bands,  that  solemn  evening  when  the 
news  came  that  the  enemy  had  surrounded  us  on  every  side? 
And  back  again  to  Marietta,  where  our  Division  was  reorganized 
for  the  grand  campaign  from  the  mountains  to  the  sea.  Do  you 
recollect  your  review  by  General  Sherman,  the  smoking  ruins  of 
Marietta,  and  the  destroying  of  the  railroad,  and  the  commence- 
ment of  our  march,  leading  Sherman's  columns  southward,  while 
Hood  was  marching  north?  Do  you  remember  the  brilliant 
charge  of  the  first  brigade,  at  the  old  Rebel  earthworks  at  Love- 
joy's,  when  that  brigade  took  back  again  the  two  pieces  of  artillery 
the  Rebels  had  taken  from  Stoneman?  And  at  Bear  Creek 
Station,  where  we  sent  Wheeler  flying  toward  Macon,  and  the 
night  marching  across  the  Ocmulgee  on  the  pontoons,  and  into 
a  country  where  horses  and  turkeys  and  sweet  potatoes  were 
plenty.  And  from  Clinton  to  Macon,  where  Captain  Becker, 
with  a  battalion  so  handsomely  repulsed  the  charge  of  Crew?'s 
brigade;  and  do  you  recollect  how  that  Rebel  brigade  scattered  in 
utter  confusion  in  every  direction  through  the  woods  and  fields, 
leaving  us  an  open  road  up  to  the  Rebel  earthworks  east  of 
Macon?  Can  you  not  now  even  hear  the  cannon  thunder,  and 
the  bursting  shells  from  the  nine  pieces  of  artillery  with  which 
the  enemy  opened  on  us — and  can't  vou  see  the  long  line  ot 
burning  railroad  ties,  with  the  iron  rails  heating  for  bending? 
The  cutting  of  that  railroad  put  Wheeler  in  our  rear,  and  cut  off 
the  Rebel  General  Cobb  with  his  Georgia  "  Melish,"  and  gave 


ILLINOIS.  347 

Snerman  uninterrupted  roads  as  he  wheeled  his  grand  army  to 
the  left  and  held  his  course  for  Savannah.  And  then  that  rainy 
night  when  we  retired  on  the  Clinton  Road,  and  buried  our  dead, 
and  amputated  the  limbs  of  the  wounded.  And  the  next  morning 
when  you  boys,  under  that  cool,  intrepid  officer,  Colonel  Van 
Buskirk,  who  honored  the  silver  leaves  he  wore,  and  had  doubly 
earned  the  eagles  he  would  have  honored,  so  handsomely  repulsed 
the  four  heavy  columns  charging  against  you,  and  achieved  as 
brilliant  a  little  victory  as  the  history  of  the  war  can  furnish.  I 
give  the  credit  to  the  skill  of  your  commander,  and  your  cool 
braverv;  but  you,  I  know,  will  give  the  credit  to  your  trusty 
"  Spencers"  that  served  you  so  well  and  faithfully  on  many  a 
trying  occasion.  And  then  away  through  Milledgeville  to  the  left 
flank  of  the  army,  feinting  on  Augusta,  and  turning  short  off  for 
Millen.  Do  you  remember  the  day  when  Wheeler  came  up  in 
our  rear,  joined  by  Wade  Hampton  and  his  Potomac  cavalry,  and 
you  so  steadily  and  ably  held  the  rear  guard  while  Kilpatrick's 
column,  uninterrupted,  continued  its  march  all  day  long?  I 
seldom  have  seen  the  cool  bravery  and  courage  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  put  to  a  severer  test,  or  more  evenly  and  squarely  vindi- 
cated. After  they  had  charged  one  or  two  of  the  "rail  barricades'' 
and  found  them  full  of  "  Spencers,"  they  became  very  shy  of 
charging,  and  the  remark  I  made  to  Kilpatrick  was  true,  that 
there  was  no  danger  to  his  Division  as  long  as  the  Ninety-Second 
was  between  it  and  the  enemy.  Kilpatrick  thought  the  next  day 
that  he  would  superintend  the  rear  guard  in  person,  and  came 
very  near  getting  his  precious  little  person  into  a  Rebel  prison, 
and  he  himself  confessed  if  it  had  not  been  for  one  of  the  regi- 
ments of  my  Brigade,  the  9th  Michigan  Cavalry,  with  their 
"  Spencer"  Rifles,  he  would  have  been  captured.  Do  you  recol- 
lect Buckhead  Creek  Church,  when  an  Orderly  came  to  tell  us 
that  General  Kilpatrick  was  captured,  and  we  waited  for  the  first 
brigade  to  pass  through  ours?  and  the  fight  on  the  Chevish  planta- 
tion, a  little  farther  on,  where  we  all  sat  down  in  the  road  and 
gave  Wheeler  and  Hampton,  with  their  combined  force  far  out- 
numbering ours,  an  opportunity  to  run  over  us  if  they  could,  and 
how  they  couldn't!  The  only  mistake  of  that  engagement  was 
that  Kilpatrick  did  not  have  a  couple  of  regiments  ready  to 
charge  the  confused  ranks  of  the  enemy,  after  we  had  given  them 
so  handsome  a  repulse!  But  that  was  lacking  a  great  manv 
times.  If  always,  when  the  Ninety-Second  had  charged  the 
enemy  on  foot,  broken  their  ranks  and  sent  them  flying,  a  well- 


348  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

ordered  cavalry  charge  had  followed   up  the  victory,    Kilpatrick 
would  have  done  what  the  Rebel  General  Forrest  never  failed  to 
do,  and  his  many  laurels,  bright  now,  would  have  been  brighter 
still.     And  then  the  fight  at  Waynesboro.     Do  you  recollect  your 
night  on   picket,  when  the  enemy  brought  up  his  artillery,  and 
Erb  and   Merrill   were   mustered   out   honorably?  and  the  next 
morning,   when  you  were  double-quicked  into  the  fight  without 
breakfast?     Thanks   to  the   pistol   in  Schermerhorn's  breast  coat 
pocket — if  it  had   not  been  there,  he  would  have  had  marching 
orders  to  report  to  his   quarters  on  high.     How  proud  I  was  of 
the  old  Regiment  that  morning!     How  coolly  vou  charged  the 
enemy's   long  line  of  barricades,  capturing   eighty-seven  of  the 
"Johnnies,"  and  grinding  out  the  shot  from  your  coffee-mill  guns 
on  the  backs  of  the  fleeing  mass  that  attempted  to  retreat.     How 
soldierly  you  behaved,   scorning  to  leave  your   ranks    to    take 
charge  of  the  prisoners  your  valor  had  captured,  leaving  them  to 
be  picked  up  by  the  cavalry  following,  and  yourselves  pressing 
forward,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  and  repulsing,  with  the  deadly  fire 
of  your   death-dealing  "  Spencers,"    the  heavy  charge  of  Rebel 
cavalry  by  which   they  attempted  to  regain   their  lost  ground! 
That  was  a  brilliant  victory,  but  brilliant  as  it  was,  we  paid  dearly 
for  it.     Brave  "Gedee"  Scott  and  his  no  less  brave  comrades  who 
sleep  to-day  in  their  narrow   little  beds  on  that  victory-crowned 
field  was  part  of  the  price  paid  for  victory.     And  on  to  Savannah, 
where  the  dashing  waves  of  the  Atlantic  sounded  welcome  to  the 
brave  Western  men  who  had   marched  from  the   heart  of  the 
Continent,  over  mountain  barrier,   through  rocky  defile  and  dis- 
mal swamps,  to  plant  the  eagle-surmounted  shot  and  shell-torn 
standards  of  the  old  Republic  on  the  ocean-beat  shore!     Have  you 
forgotten   your  foraging  after  rice   in  the  straw  for  your  horses, 
your  trip  to  the  Altamaha  River,  your  foraging  expedition   to 
Tavlor's   Creek  after  corn,  sweet  potatoes,    honey,  turkeys,  and 
chickens?     How  did  you  like  your  oysters  gathered  up  from  the 
neglected  oyster  beds,  on  New  Year's  day,  1865,  at  King's  Bridge? 
Do  you  remember  our  second  review  by  General  Sherman,  in  the 
streets  of  the  captured  city  of  Savannah,  where  we   passed  in 
review  before  the  Secretary  of  War?     And  away  again  through 
rain  and  swamps  on  to  the  "  sacred  soil"  (?)  of  South  Carolina? 
Do  you  remember  how  you  put  your  cartridge  boxes  on  your 
heads  and  held  your  guns  up  over  them  and  waded  the  Salke- 
hatchie  River  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  and  charged  over  the 
abatis  up  the  steep  hill  opposite,  and  drove  them  out  of  their 


NINBTT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  349 

earthworks?  When  will  you  forget  Barnwell  wrapped  in  flames, 
or  Blackville  Station,  with  its  miles  of  burning  railroad  ties? 
When  will  you  forget  Aiken?  Wheeler  and  Hampton  had  there 
prepared  a  trap  for  you,  and  Kilpatrick's  dare-devil  dash  drove 
you  squarely  into  the  jaws  of  the  trap,  but  when  they  sprung  it 
and  thought  they  had  you  nicely,  they  found  they  had  caught  a 
tartar!  There  never  was  a  tight  place  that  the  Ninety-Second, 
with  their  Repeating  Rifles,  was  not  sent  into;  and  you  will 
,  remember  how  fearful  I  was  that  the  Regiment  would  some  day 
be  surrounded  by  the  enemy  and  be  left  by  the  cavalry  to  get  out 
again  .is  best  it  could. 

At  Aiken,  Kilpatrick  ordered  me  to  withdraw  with  the  balance 
of  my  Brigade  and  leave  you  surrounded,  but  I  determined  to 
maintain  the  reserve  line  until  you  came  out,  or  at  least  until  I 
could  no  longer  hear  the  rattle  of  your  "  Spencers."  How  often  I 
have  urged  you  to  stick  by  one  another,  and  fight  in  a  body,  what- 
ever might  be  the  odds  against  you.  You  did  it  at  Aiken,  and 
we  did  not  have  to  wait  long  until  you  had  cut  your  way  through 
and  were  ready  to  turn  again  upon  your  enemy ;  and,  with  the 
gallant  gth  Ohio  and  pth  Michigan,  charged  them  in  turn,  driving 
them  through  Aiken  in  confusion,  and  rescuing  Companies  "  K" 
and  "A,"  still  left  surrounded  by  the  "Johnnies,"  and  fighting 
among  the  buildings  in  the  town,  and  bringing  off  your  wounded. 
Bitterly  the  enemy  paid  for  their  effort  to  gobble  up  the  Ninety- 
Second  Regiment.  They  buried  eighty  of  their  slain  at  Aiken ! 
After  that  I  had  no  more  fears  that  the  Regiment  would  ever  get 
into  a  place  it  could  not  get  out  of,  and  about  concluded  that  all  of 
Jeff.  Davis's  gray-coated  legions  could  not  capture  the  Ninety- 
Second!  It  was  a  hard  task  to  fight,  with  four  little  regiments, 
Wheeler  and  Hampton  with  seven  divisions;  but  seven  divisions 
could  not  whip  you  while  you  had  plenty  of  ammunition  for  your 
"Spencers."  And  on  again,  past  Saluda  Factory,  Columbia, 
Winnsboro  and  Rocky  Mount  to  Solemn  Grove,  where  vou 
marched  in  the  night  on  a  parallel  road  with  the  enemy's  column, 
and  so  close  your  flankers  mingled  with  theirs,  and  the  loud  talk- 
ing in  their  column  could  be  plainly  heard,  and  when  we  struck 
the  forks  of  the  road,  and  supposed  we  had  got  in  ahead  of  them, 
we  met  one  of  Wheeler's  aids,  who  came  dashing  back  ordering 
us  to  "  hurry  up,"  and  we  quietly  informed  him  he  was  a  prisoner, 
and  Kilpatrick's  troops  didn't  obey  Wheeler's  orders.  But  we 
learned  from  him  that  three  divisions  of  Rebel  troops  were  on  the 
road  just  ahead  of  us,  and  four  divisions  of  Rebels  coming  up  in 


350  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS, 

our  rear — we  had  just  filled  the  gap  in  the  L^ebel  column,  and 
with  Wheeler  leading  and  Hampton  following,  we  were  marching 
along  the  same  road  with  them !  So  we  concluded  that  if  the 
Rebels  wanted  that  road  so  bad  they  might  have  it  all  bv  them- 
selves, while  we  plunged  into  the  dark  pine  woods  and  found  an- 
other road  off  on  the  right.  Only  cool,  intrepid  men,  who  would 
not  speak  above  their  breath,  and  were  ready  to  fight,  could  be 
taken  out  of  so  dangerous  a  place.  And  on,  by  Fayetteville  to 
Averysboro,  where  we  opened  the  fight  by  capturing  Colonel 
Rhett,  of  South  Carolina,  who  had  just  evacuated  Fort  Sumter. 
And  on  again,  to  Bentonsville,  where  Johnston's  "Johnnies" 
showed  fight,  but  where,  when  "  Uncle  Billy"  turned  his  columns 
around  to  give  them  fair  battle,  between  dark  and  davlight, 

"  Folded  their  tents  like  the  Arabs, 
And  as  silently  hastened  away." 

It  was  your  fortune  to  first  make  the  discovery  in  the  morning 
that  the  ubiquitous  gray-backs  had  "  slid  out,"  and  to  lead  the 
advance  that  followed  on  through  the  town  of  Bentonsville.  Then 
we  turned  around  and  greeted  Schofield  at  Goldsboro,  who,  after 
his  magnificent  victory  over  Hood  at  Franklin,  from  behind  the 
very  fortifications  you  helped  to  construct,  and  Hood's  final  repulse 
at  Nashville,  had  taken  the  cars  to  the  sea-coast  and  sail  to  New 
Berne,  to  shake  hands  again  with  his  old  comrades  of  the  Atlanta 
campaign.  Honor  Lincoln,  and  Grant,  and  Sherman,  and  Thomas, 
and  Schofield,  and  all  who  planned  or  helped  to  execute  that 
grand  winter's  campaign;  and  when  you  grow  old  tell  your  little 
grandchildren  that  you  marched  and  fought  with  Sherman's  boys 
in  the  grandest  campaign  in  all  the  world's  history.  And  as  soon 
as  Sherman  had  issued  clothing,  you  led  his  columns  against 
Johnston  at  Smithfield.  Have  you  forgotten  the  bright  morning 
when  we  drove  the  enemy  across  Swift  Creek  in  North  Carolina, 
found  the  bridge  destroyed,  and,  after  part  of  your  Regiment  had 
waded  the  creek  so  as  to  hold  the  other  side,  our  pioneers  rebuilt 
the  bridge,  and  just  after  the  Ninety-Second  began  crossing,  Major 
Nichols,  of  Sherman's  staff,  rode  up  with  the  news  that  Lee  had 
surrendered  to  Grant?  No,  you  have  not  forgotten  it,  and  you 
will  never  forget  it.  How  your  caps  went  into  the  air,  how  loud 
your  glad  voices  rang  out — how  bright  the  starry  banners  we  had 
so  long  followed  looked  as  you  gave  them  to  the  breeze  and  the 
sunlight;  and  never  before  did  bugles  blare  and  trumpets  blow  so 
loud,  or  music  sound  so  sweet  as  when  our  Band  struck  up  "  Hail 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  351 

Columbia!"  But  the  still  stubborn  "Johnnies,"  in  their  earth- 
works half  a  mile  across  the  creek,  who  had  been  only  waiting  for 
part  of  the  column  to  cross  to  make  an  attack  when  no  support 
could  be  offered  by  the  troops  not  yet  across,  had  not  yet  heard  of 
Lee's  surrender,  and  did  not  know  the  war  was  ended !  But  you 
boys  of  the  Ninety-Second,  shouting  and  laughing  with  the  glad 
news  you  had  just  heard,  coolly  received  the  wild  charge  of  that 
Rebel  brigade,  halted  it  with  murderous  volleys  from  your  ever 
faithful  "  Spencers,"  turned  it  back,  and  shouting  still  with  joy 
over  Lee's  surrender,  dashed  after  the  retreating  Rebels,  and  cap- 
tured their  earthworks.  Brilliant  victory — but,  oh !  the  price  we 
paid !  I  never  felt  so  sad  in  battle  as  I  did  then,  when  I  looked 
upon  the  poor  boys  who  there,  after  the  great  war  was  in  fact  over, 
and  victory  was  with  our  eagles,  received  marching  orders  to 
report  in  heaven.  Little  did  I  dream  when  I  saw  Major  Hawk, 
under  the  great  oak  tree  by  the  white  farm  house,  pale  and  bleed- 
ing with  his  terrible  wound,  that  I  should  greet  him  here  in  a 
Reunion  of  our  Regiment  in  our  Illinois  home.  Long  may  he 
live  to  receive  the  greetings  of  his  old  comrades  in  arms!  And 
on,  through  Raleigh  to  New  Hope  Creek,  where  our  Brigade  fired 
its  last  shot.  It  was  my  fortune  while  Captain  of  Company  "A," 
nth  Illinois,  to  assist  in  capturing  one  of  the  first  (if  not  the  first) 
Rebel  flags  captured  west  of  the  Alleghanies ;  it  was  a  few  days 
after  Ellsworth  captured  the  Rebel  flag  at  Alexandria,  Virginia, 
and  a  day  or  two  before  Governor  Oglesby  captured  the  Rebel 
flag  on  the  Mississippi,  near  Columbus;  and  a  book  recently  pub- 
lished in  New  York,  edited  by  a  Southern  lady,  gives  the  Brigade 
I  commanded  the  honor  of  firing  the  last  loyal  shot  in  the  war 
before  the  surrender  of  Johnston's  army.  And  then  you  quietly 
sat  down  in  Chapel  Hill  to  await  the  terms  of  surrender  that  was 
to  close  the  most  gigantic  Rebellion  known  in  all  the  world's  his- 
tory. 

No  sooner  did  you  hear  of  Johnston's  surrender  than  you  were 
clamoring  to  be  mustered  out;  you  were  not  soldiers  from  choice; 
you  went  from  a  sense  of  duty  alone,  and  when  the  power  of  the 
Rebellion  was  broken,  and  the  Rebel  armies  scattered,  your  duty 
was  done.  All  the  world's  history  can  furnish  no  prouder  record 
than  was  achieved  by  our  citizen  soldiery,  and  never  before  have 
a  million  battle-scarred  heroes  left  the  bloody  field  as  soon  as  the 
last  hostile  shot  had  died  away,  and  hastily  returned  to  kiss  their 
wives,  their  babies,  and  their  sweethearts,  and  resume  the  peaceful 
callings  they  had  left.  With  the  flag  of  your  country,  known  and 


352  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

honored  in  every  part  of  the  world  where  the  bible  is  read  and 
Christianity  acknowledged,  proudly  floating  over  you,  secure  in 
the  liberties  your  valor  helped  achieve  for  your  country,  you  are 
laboring  in  your  professions,  at  your  trades,  or  on  your  farms. 
Children  of  the  North  American  Republic,  proud  of  your  coun- 
try, your  country  is  proud  of  you. 

One  feature  in  our  Regiment  I  have  not  yet  mentioned — a 
feature  which  will  gladden  the  hearts  of  some  of  the  fathers  and 
mothers  of  the  boys.  As  soon  as  the  Regiment  was  mustered  in, 
a  party  of  Christian  gentlemen  belonging  to  the  Regiment  organ- 
ized a  Thursday  evening  prayer  meeting,  and,  during  all  our 
service,  I  do  not  believe  that  one  Thursday  evening  was  permitted 
to  pass  without  a  meeting  of  that  Christian  band.  Many  a  time 
have  I  heard  their  earnest  prayers  and  fervent  amens  rising  above 
the  din  and  confusion  of  the  busy  camp,  and  louder  than  the  wind 
and  storm.  Such  Christianity  is  a  badge  of  honor  in  this  life,  and 
will  prove  the  highest  honor  in  the  next.  Those  who  believe  the 
army  so  demoralizing  that  virtue  cannot  live  in  it,  are  sadly  mis- 
taken— gold  is  refined  in  the  fire — and  I  can  bear  cheerful  testi- 
mony that  the  professors  of  religion  in  the  Ninety-Second,  both 
officers  and  men,  so  bore  themselves  as  to  honor  the  profession 
they  made. 

Very  little  have  I  told  you  of  our  Regimental  history — battle 
after  battle  have  I  passed  by  without  mention — yet  who  shall  say 
that  your  Regimental  career  was  not  one  of  uninterrupted  honor? 
and  shall  not  the  impartial  historian  record  that  the  Ninety- 
Second  Illinois  did  fully  its  part  in  crushing  out  the  great  slave- 
holders' Rebellion?  and  who  shall  dare  assert  that  the  starry 
emblem  of  liberty,  "  flag  of  the  free  heart's  only  hope,"  given 
into  your  keeping,  although  tattered  and  torn  in  battle  and 
campaign,  was  not  brought  back  by  you  without  a  stain  on  its 
bright  blue  field  ? 

Some  tell  me  these  Reunions  are  wrong, — that  we  ought  to 
strive  to  forget,  and  not  to  remember  our  terrible  sufferings,  pri- 
vations, battles,  and  maimings,  the  horrible  prison  pens,  and 
deliberate  butchery  of  our  captured  prisoners,  and  forgive  our 
erring  brothers  of  the  South,  who  tried  to  lay  our  temple  of 
libertv  in  ruins,  and  attempted  to  wade  through  seas  of  blood  to 
found  a  Confederacy,  with  slavery  as  the  chief  corner-stone.  Did 
our  revoiutionarv  sires  seek  to  forget  Bunker  Hill  and  Lexington 
as  soon  as  the  power  of  King  George  was  broken?  Did  they 
forget  the  prison  ships?  Did  the  people  of  America  forget 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  353 

WASHINGTON  and  his  compeers?  No!  While  liberty  survives, 
the  fame  of  the  Continental  soldiers  will  remain  bright,  and  as 
long  as  a  revolutionary  hero  shall  live,  so  long  will  the  American 
people  honor  the  survivors  of  the  revolutionary  struggle;  and 
when  all  are  gone,  their  memories  will  live  to  keep  bright  the 
sacred  fires  of  liberty  their  heroism  kindled.  Time,  in  its  flight, 
will  bring  such  memories  to  the  American  people  of  you.  Their 
battle,  and  your  battle,  was  for  freedom.  In  the  sacred  cause  of 
liberty  and  humanity,  they  fought  and  bled ;  and  so  did  you.  For 
the  last  ninety  years,  those  who  have  loved  their  country  and 
liberty  have  met  annually,  and,  kneeling  around  the  altars  of 
liberty,  have  renewed  their  vows  to  keep  their  memories  bright 
forever;  and  hereafter,  mingled  with  praises  of  them,  will  be 
praises  of  you. 

Christ  has  taught  us  that  forgiveness  is  for  those  who  seek  it, 
"confessing  their  sins."  There  is  no  man  living  more  willing 
than  I  am  to  forgive  those  people  in  the  South  who  see  their  sin 
and  are  turning  from  it.  But  when  their  sins  are  forgiven,  and 
they  are  received  into  full  fellowship  in  the  American  Church  of 
Liberty,  they  must  kneel  with  us  and  worship  at  Liberty's  altar; 
thev  must  join  with  us  in  chanting  the  songs  of  Freedom,  and  in 
sounding  the  praises  of  the  "boys  in  blue,"  who  battled  Rebel- 
lion's hosts  under  Liberty's  bright  banner. 

Let  us  cherish  the  sacred  memories  of  our  soldier  life — let  us 
never  forget  the  terrible  price  we  have  paid  for  liberty,  or  the 
"  crimson  currency"  in  which  it  was  paid.  Let  us  honor  the 
memory  of  our  dead  comrades,  whose  graves  are  scattered  over 
Kentucky,  on  the  banks  of  the  Tennessee,  by  Chicamauga's  dark 
river  of  death,  around  Atlanta's  hills,  along  the  roadside  beneath 
the  dark  pines  of  the  Carolinas,  or  in  nameless  graves  at  Millen 
or  Andersonville. 

"  The  muffled  drum's  sad  roll  has  beat 

The  soldier's  last  tattoo; 
No  more  on  life's  parade  shall  meet 

The  brave  and  fallen  few. 
On  Fame's  eternal  camping  ground 

Their  silent  tents  are  spread — 
And  Glory  guards,  with  solemn  round, 

The  bivouac  of  the  dead." 

And  it  seems  to  me  that  now,  from  their  bright  homes  on  high, 
they  are  looking  down  on  this  Reunion  of  the  old  Regiment,  and 
44 


354  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

there  comes  a  message  from  away  beyond  the  clouds,  "Comrades, 
stand  by  your  colors — keep  the  old  flag  to  the  breeze!"  And 
from  your  hearts  I  know  goes  back  the  reply,  "  Aye,  we  will ! 
The  bright  starry  banner,  emblem  of  liberty,  that  floats  so  proudly 
over  your  graves,  shall  be  kept  to  the  breeze !  We  are  children 
of  the  Republic,  and  if  dangers  threaten  we  will  'rally  around  the 
flag'  as  in  days  gone  by !"  And  again  from  heaven's  starry  dome 
I  hear  the  return  reply,  "All  is  well!" 

Cherishing  the  sacred  memories  of  our  comrades  gone,  owe 
we  no  duties  to  the  gray-haired  father  or  mother,  whose  staff  and 
support  in  life's  declining  years  these  fallen  boys  were? — owe  we 
no  duties  to  the  weeping  widows,  or  little  fatherless  children 
they  have  left?  Yes,  we  owe  these  duties — they  are  solemn  and 
binding.  We  should  e%'er  be  ready  to  divide  the  rations  from  our 
well  filled  haversacks  which  the  all-bountiful  Commissary  of  the 
universe  so  freely  issues  to  us,  with  any  of  those  who  need.  Let 
a  permanent  Reunion  organization  be  formed,  and  let  its  most 
sacred  duty  be  to  hunt  up  those  suffering  ones,  and  systematically 
apply  the  relief  which  a  soldier's  warm  heart  is  always  ready  to 
bestow  upon  the  kindred  of  his  dead  comrades. 

And  in  the  Articles  of  Reunion,  let  us  provide  for  a  meeting 
every  three  years,  as  long  as  any  of  the  old  Regiment  survive,  to 
renew  our  vows  to  liberty,  and  our  allegiance  to  the  dear  old  flag. 
Will  all  that  are  here  to-day  meet  in  our  Reunion  three  years 
hence?  No,  not  all.  If  I  am  living,  I  will  be  at  that  Reunion. 
But,  ere  then,  some  of  us  will  have  marching  orders  from  Him 
who  outranks  the  President  or  The  General,  the  Grand  Com- 
mander of  the  universe,  and  will  have  gone  into  permanent  quarters 
beyond  death's  pontoons,  on  the  other  side  of  the  dark  river.  And 
who  will  be  here  ten,  twenty,  forty  years  from  now?  Will  our 
old  Chaplain  be  here  to  offer  his  spiritual  advice,  and  on  bended 
knees  offer  prayer  to  the  Throne  of  God  for  the  gray-haired  vete- 
rans, who,  forty  years  from  to-day,  will  hold  the  Reunion  of  the 
Ninety-Second  Regiment?  Not  likely.  In  the  course  of  nature, 
it  is  probable  that  the  oldest  will  be  gathered  to  their  fathers  first. 
And  who  among  us  all  will  be  the  last  to  answer  roll-call  on 
earth  ? 

And  then,  while  liberty  blesses  the  loved  land  of  our  bjrth,  the 
old  Regiment  shall  all  meet  together  again,  up  yonder,  where  our 
blattle-slain  comrades  are  waiting  to  greet  us,  in  a  Reunion  where 
there  never  shall  be  parting  more,  nor  death,  nor  battle,  on  the 
"eternal  camping  ground"  beyond  the  skies. 


NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  355 

At  the  close  of  General  Atkins's  address  the  Band  played. 
Afterward  the  "Commissary  call"  was  sounded  on  the  bugle, 
occasioning  a  lively  interest.  After  two  or  three  hours,  pleasantly 
spent  in  picnic  fashion  in  the  beautiful  grove,  the  Regiment  held 
a  "dress  parade"  and  a  short  "  battalion  drill."  "  Sick  call"  was 
sounded,  but  all  present  reported  for  duty.  A  permanent  Re- 
union organization  was  perfected.  General  Smith  D.  Atkins  was 
chosen  President;  Captain  R.  M.  A.  Hawk,  Vice-President;  J.  C. 
Lowe,  Recording  Secretary;  Dr.  George  R.  Skinner,  Correspond- 
ing Secretary;  Dr.  Clinton  Helm,  Treasurer;  Rev.  Barton  H. 
Cartwright,  Chaplain.  In  the  evening  the  generous  citizens  of 
Polo  gave  the  Ninety-Second,  and  all  soldiers  present,  an  enter- 
tainment and  supper  in  Agricultural  Hall. 

The  following  account  of  the  second  Reunion  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  is  taken  from  the  Freeport  Journal : 

The  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Mounted  Infantry  Volunteers 
held  their  second  Reunion  at  Wilcoxon's  Opera  House,  in  Free- 
port,  on  Thursday  last,  September  first,  1870.  The  day  was 
beautiful ;  the  early  train  from  the  east  brought  large  delegations 
from  Companies  B  and  K ;  extra  passenger  coaches  were  attached 
to  the  9:30  train  from  the  south,  on  the  Illinois  Central,  and  came 
in  loaded;  the  morning  train. from  the  west  brought  large  delega- 
tions ;  the  noon  trains  from  the  east  and  west,  on  the  Western 
Union  Road,  also  brought  many  to  attend  the  Reunion ;  from  an 
early  hour  in  the  morning  until  noon,  the  old  members  of  the 
Regiment,  accompanied  by  their  lathers  and  mothers,  their  wives 
and  children,  and  family  friends,  came  thronging  into  the  city  in 
wagons  and  carriages,  until  the  streets  presented  a  holiday  ap- 
pearance. At  a  little  past  one  o'clock  p.  m.  the  Freeport  Zouaves, 
under  command  of  Captain  Hurlburt,  accompanied  by  the  Wins- 
low  Brass  Band,  paraded  through  the  city,  and  at  two  o'clock  p.  m. 
the  audience  assembled  at  Wilcoxon's  magnificent  Opera  House, 
the  use  of  which  had  been  tendered  for  that  purpose  by  Mr. 
Wilcoxon  without  cost,  and  at  a  little  past  two  o'clock  p.  m., 
after  the  jam  of  finding  seats  in  the  Opera  House  was  over,  the 
exercises  began,  by  the  audience  being  called  to  order  by  General 
Atkins,  President  of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Reunion  Asso- 
ciation, who  stated  that  the  Reunion  was  held  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Mounted  Infantry  Volunteers,  a 
Regiment  that  was  composed  of  five  companies  from  Ogle 
County,  three  companies  from  Stephenson  County,  and  two  com- 
panies from  Carroll  County,  and  was  mustered  into  the  service  at 


356  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

Rockford,  Illinois,  on  the  fourth  day  of  September,  1862,  and, 
after  almost  three  years'  service,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  was 
mustered  out,  and  held  its  first  Reunion  at  Polo,  Illinois,  on  Sep- 
tember fourth,  1867,  five  years  from  the  day  on  which  they  were 
mustered  into  the  service.  At  that  Reunion  they  had  resolved 
to  hold  a  Reunion  so  long  as  two  of  the  members  of  the  old 
Regiment  should  be  alive,  once  in  every  three  years.  In  obedi- 
ence to  that  resolution  they  were  there — and  they  had  cordially 
invited  the  soldiers  of  other  regiments  to  meet  with  them,  and 
the  citizens  also,  for  they  well  knew  that  the  memories  of  the 
past,  which  were  so  dear  to  the  surviving  members  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  Illinois  Volunteers,  were  the  common  memories  of  all 
the  soldiers  of  the  Republic,  and  of  the  people  of  America.  The 
exercises  began  with  music  by  the  Band.  Afterward  the  Presi- 
dent stated  that  it  was  a  well-known  fact,  that  the  Ninetv-Second 
Illinois  was  a  God-fearing  and  a  God-serving  Regiment,  and  it 
would  be  appropriate  that,  before  anything  further  was  done,  they 
should  join  in  prayer,  while  Chaplain  Cartwright,  the  old  and 
well-beloved  Chaplain  of  the  Regiment,  invoked  the  blessings  of 
Deity,  and  the  President  called  upon  Rev.  Barton  H.  Cartwright, 
who  made  an  appropriate  prayer. 

After  which  the  President  called  upon  Captain  'E.  T.  E.  Becker 
for  a  song,  and  Captain  Becker  came  forward  to  the  stand,  and 
sang  the  beautiful  song  commencing, 

"  'Tis  finished,  'tis  finished,  the  great  work  is  ended," 

which  was  heartily  applauded  by  the  audience. 

After  music  by  the  Band,  the  President  introduced  General 
Sheets,  of  Ogle  County,  late  Lieutenant  Colonel  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  Illinois  Volunteers,  who,  the  President  said,  was  a  modest 
gentleman,  quite  bashful  among  the  ladies,  but  whom  he  had 
known  to  face  the  enemy  upon  the  battle-field  without  flinching. 
The  General  came  forward,  amid  applause,  and  spoke  as  follows  : 

SOLDIERS,  COMRADES,  FRIENDS:  Addresses  are  sometimes 
appropriate — but  at  a  soldiers'  Reunion  I  believe  them  always  out 
of  place.  We  come  here  to  think  and  talk  of  the  scenes  of  the 
past — of  events  gone  by — of  hardships  endured — of  struggles  deep 
and  earnest,  and  to  renew  the  associations  of  the  past;  and  under 
such  circumstances  a  set  speech  must  always  be  out  of  order. 
And  yet,  in  obedience  to  the  orders  of  my  superiors,  I  am  here  to 
inflict  on  you  just  such  a  speech. 

When  our  good  old   Chaplain   Cartwright  first  came  to  the 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  357 

Regiment,  he  asked  me  how  we  got  the  Regiment  out  to  preach- 
ing. I  told  him,  if  the  boys,  being  hungry,  could  find  a  good  din- 
ner, they  would  need  no  urging  to  eat,  and  a  good  Chaplain,  fur- 
nishing them  with  such  spiritual  food  as  they  needed,  would  have 
no  difficulty  in  getting  them  out  to  hear. 

Sabbath  morning  came — the  hour  for  worship  had  arrived — 
no  church  bells  broke  the  stillness  of  the  morning — instead  of  the 
Chaplain  asking  the  Adjutant  to  call  the  Regiment  together  for 
worship,  I  heard  his  clarion  voice  (not  always  melodious)  crying, 
"  Ho,  boys!  come  up  here  and  help  me  serve  the  Lord  for  half  an 
hour,  and  I  will  help  you  in  the  trenches  the  balance  of  the  week." 
I  need  not  assure  you  that  everything  was  abandoned,  and  if  all 
did  not  serve  the  Lord  for  half  an  hour,  they  listened  to  the  Chap- 
lain's sermon.  I  shall  not  make  you  so  rash  a  promise. 

I  have  arranged,  briefly  as  possible,  a  few  of  the  events  in  the 
•history  of  our  Regiment.  If  there  are  soldiers  of  other  commands 
here,  we  greet  them  most  cordially — we  were  brothers  struggling 
in  the  same  cause — and  they  may  find  something  in  our  history 
that  will  be  responsive  to  their  own  experience. 

The  Ninety-Second  Illinois  was  mustered  into  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  at  Rockford,  Illinois,  September  fourth,  1862. 
It  was  composed  of  two  companies  from  Carroll,  three  from  Steph- 
enson,  and  five  from  Ogle.  Of  the  one  thousand  men  composing 
the  Regiment,  999  of  whom  I  dare  speak,  were  as  true  and  good 
as  the  war  ever  produced.  It  is  no  disparagement  to  others,  to  say 
that  better  material  for  soldiers  was  never  mustered  for  the  con- 
flict. Men  of  noble  impulses,  men  of  high  culture,  your  own 
sons,  brothers,  or  husbands  were  there. 

Our  first  experience  in  camp  was  at  Rockford.  It  was  so  un- 
like the  experiences  of  war,  that  none  of  us  will  ever  forget  it.  I 
have  no  doubt  but  that  your  memory  to-day  is  fresh  in  the  remem- 
brance of  those  yellow-legged  chickens — those  broad-backed  tur- 
keys— the  delicious  fruit — the  rich  cakes,  and  everything  which 
wife,  or  mother,  or  sister  could  provide  for  our  wants.  How  those 
tables  in  the  rear  of  our  barracks  used  to  groan  beneath  their 
load! 

And  there,  too,  came  our  first  experience  in  drill.  Do  you 
remember  a  crowd  of  very  wise  looking  fellows,  numbering 
thirty-three,  with  'bright  shoulder-straps,  to  whom  nine  hundred 
and  seventy  of  you  less  fortunate  fellows  used  to  tip  your  hats? 
Do  you  remember  how  we  thirty-three  dignified  men  were  lead 
out  each  day,  by  a  beardless  boy  called  Lawver,  and  put  in  train- 


358  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

ing  for  our  high  position?  You  called  them  the  a-wk-ward  squad. 
The  most  prominent  thing  about  them  was  the  glitter  of  their 
new  uniforms.  Their  hands  and  feet  were  always  in  the  wrong 
place.  Was  there  ever  anything  more  laughable  or  amusing  than 
this  officers'  drill;  unless  it  was  to  see  Doctor  Winston  on  horse- 
back, at  review  ? 

Who  will  ever  forget  how  wise  your  Captains  and  Lieutenants 
were  after  these  drills,  when  they  took  you  out  into  the  same 
fields  and  repeated  what  they  had  learned?  There,  too,  your  awk- 
wardness was  displayed.  Then  came  the  Regimental  drill,  when 
we  were  exhibited  to  the  multitude.  Do  you  remember  the  first 
time  I  undertook  to  drill  the  Regiment?  My  first  command, 
promptly  executed  by  you,  put  the  Regiment  in  such  a  position  as 
to  require  the  skill  of  every  officer  for  ten  minutes  to  straighten 
the  line  again.  I  had  not  then  learned  to  say  that  I  kneiv  the 
command  was  wrong,  and  only  gave  it  to  see  if  you  would  exe- 
cute it.  Fond  parents  looked  on  at  those  drills,  and,  pointing  with 
feelings  of  noble  pride  to  their  boy,  said,  "  Isn't  our  John  a  model 
soldier?  Wouldn't  he  look  fine  with  those  shoulder-straps ?  and 
he  would  certainly  set  an  awkward  horse  better  than  those  awk- 
ward field  officers." 

But  the  days  of  this  soldiering  were  soon  numbered.  The  mid- 
dle of  October  brought  the  long  hoped-for  order  to  move  to  the  field 
of  strife.  Every  fellow  seemed  spoiling  for  a  fight,  and  in  his  own 
estimation  weighed  two  hundred  pounds  avoirdupois!  The  last 
farewells  were  said — the  last  kiss  from  mother,  sister,  or  maiden 
was  taken,  and  away  with  the  speed  of  the  wind,  we  went  South- 
ward. Many — alas,  how  many,  never  again  to  return  to  friends 
or  loved  ones.  All  over  the  South-land  lie  buried  those  who  went 
forth  that  morning  with  hopes  bright  as  we.  Noble  boys — no 
sister's,  or  mother's,  or  maiden's  hands  pressed  their  foreheads,  or 
closed  their  eyes  in  death.  They  went  down  always  with  their 
face  to  the  foe.  Noble,  heroic  boys — how  we  loved  them ! 

"  Sleep,  soldier  boy !  the  clarion  tongue 

Of  deathless  fame  shall  speak  of  thee; 
And  ages  hence,  thy  name  among 
The  brightest  of  the  earth  shall  be," 

I  am  glad  that  here  in  Stephenson  county  you  are  building  a 
Monument  in  honor  of  these  heroic  men.  The  people  of  Byron, 
in  my  county,  were  among  the  first  to  pay  this  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  our  fallen  comrades.  There,  as  here,  you  honor  the 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  359 

men,  and  the  cause  for  which  they  fell.  The  Monument  you 
build  will  perish.  Time,  relentless  time,  with  sunshine  and  storm, 
will  deface  the  words  you  have  inscribed  upon  the  marble — but 
out  in  the  unfolding  future,  the  fame  and  glory  of  these  men  will 
gain  new  lustre.  Humanity's  cause,  for  which  they  battled,  shall 
never  die.  Soldiers — surviving  comrades — while  we  enjoy  this 
Regimental  Reunion,  let  us  remember  our  fallen  comrades. 

After  leaving  Rockford,  our  first  campaign  was  made  in  Loyal 
Kentucky.  We  marched  through  her  blue-grass  region,  always 
beautiful ;  we  drank  the  green  waters  from  her  miasma  stock 
pond,  while  loyal  Major  Generals  locked  the  wells;  we  burned  no 
fence-rails,  robbed  no  bee-hives,  twisted  no  chickens'  necks,  kissed 
no  pretty  girls;  but  -we  tvould  steal  niggers! 

After  marching  and  countermarching,  we  neared  the  moun- 
tain region,  and,  finding  no  armed  Rebels,  we  went  into  garrison 
duty  at  Mt.  Sterling.  Here  was  developed  the  startling  announce- 
ment that  the  Regiment  had  but  one  married  man,  poor  old  Cap- 
tain Brice,  and  I  really  believe  he  would,  have  passed  for  unmar- 
ried, if  he  had  not  have  had  a  gray-bearded  son  in  the  Regiment. 
It  was  here  that  we  witnessed  the  first,  and,  so  far  as  I  know,  the 
only,  exhibition  of  cowardice  on  the  part  of  a  private  soldier  in  our 
command.  While  marching  through  the  streets  of  Mt.  Sterling, 
one  of  our  boys  said  to  a  beautiful  Kentucky  girl,  who  was  carry- 
ing a  little  flag — the  Stars  and  Stripes — "  What  will  you  take  for 
that  flag?"  Her  quick  and  ready  response  was,  "  a  kiss,  sir!" 
And  he,  who  afterward  faced  danger  on  a  hundred  battle-fields, 
and  assisted  in  carrying  our  banner  on  to  victory  and  triumph, 
was  too  cowardly  to  capture  that  little  flag! 

I  have  always  thought  that  the  soldier  imagined  that  the  Adju- 
tant reserved  all  such  duties  for  himself;  I  am  sure  he  was  not  an 
officer,  for  we  had  no  officer,  not  even  Captain  Becker  or  Captain 
Hawk,  who  ever  turned  his  back  on  such  a  foe.  It  was  here  that 
our  Colonel  Atkins  (wonder  if  Mrs.  A.  is  present?)  learned  to 
sing,  with  gre»t  fervor, 

"  Miss  Julie  am  a  handsome  gal, 
Her  heart  am  young  and  tender." 

Boys,  have  you  forgotten  Miss  Julia?  The  Colonel  used  to 
take  me  along,  and  the  old  lady  (so  unlike  most  mothers)  had 
such  an  easy  way  of  getting  me  out  of  the  parlor,  so  that  the  Col- 
onel and  Miss  Julia  could  admire  alone.  The  old  lady  used  to  tell 
me  about  her  lands,  her  niggers,  and  her  family,  while  the  Colonel 


360  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

in  the  parlor  defined  love  to  Miss  Julia.     Here  is  what  he  was 
overheard  by  one  of  the  boys  to  say : 

"  Love,  real  love,  cannot  well  be  defined, 
'Tis  a  feeling  of  feelings  deep  down  in  the  mind; 

.  Suffice  it  to  say,  it  is  tenderly  furious, 
Painfully  pleasing  and  peculiarly  curious." 

Mrs.  Atkins  can  tell  us  whether  the  Colonel  ever  surpassed 
this  poetic  effusion ! 

At  Mt.  Sterling,  too,  we  had  our  first  long  roll.  A  crowd  of 
innocent  darkies  were  hunting  coons  at  night.  Having  treed  his 
coonship,  they  used  powder  and  shot  to  bring  him  down.  Our 
sentinels,  smelling  the  enemy  afar  off,  gave  the  alarm.  Needham 
rushed  for  the  drum — men  and  officers  for  their  arms,  and  in  less 
than  three  minutes  our  line  was  formed  and  ready  for  the  strife. 

The  foe,  of  course,  did  not  test  our  metal.  Our  only  loss  was 
the  heads  of  three  drums  that  Needham  stove  in.  And  the  only 
disaster  was  that  of  the  Major,  who,  in  the  great  haste,  got  into 
his  pants,  with  his  pants  wrong  end  up. 

The  anti-slavery  sentiment  of  our  Regiment  soon  became 
obnoxious  to  the  good  people  of  Mt.  Sterling.  Repeated  orders 
and  changes  brought  us  to  Danville,  Ky.  On  the  whole,  the 
change  was  a  pleasant  one.  Our  stay  in  Kentucky  was  made  up 
of  a  mixture  of  pleasant  and  unpleasant  events.  We  were  called 
the  Abolition  Regiment — using  the  more  chaste  language  of 
Kentucky  loyalists,  we  were  "  nigger  thieves."  We  were  pursued 
by  men  and  women  hunting  their  chattels.  Our  Colonel,  I 
believe,  stands  indicted  as  a  thief  under  the  old  laws  of  Loyal 
Kentucky!  I  believe  I  express  the  sentiment  of  every  soldier, 
when  I  say  that  our  cause  suffered  more  from  the  so-called  loy- 
alists of  Kentucky,  than  from  the  Rebel  element.  Had  Ken- 
tucky joined  the  other  Rebellious  States,  the  war  would  have 
been  shortened  by  years.  Her  loyalty  was  always  with  an  "if." 

I  need  not  assure  you  that  the  order,  transferring  us  from  the 
Army  of  Kentucky  to  the  Armv  of  the  Cumberland,  was  hailed 
with  shouts  of  joy,  and  songs  of  gladness.  It  meant  more  active 
work.  We  learned  that  inaction  was  death.  What  we  needed  in 
the  army,  as  well  as  out  of  it,  was  something  to  do.  Active  work 
brings  good  health,  and  develops  strong  muscle.  .  We  soon  found 
this,  but  not  exactly  to  our  taste.  Time  and  events  brought  us  to 
Franklin,  Tennessee,  where  we  found  ample  room  for  the  exercise 
of  muscle  in  digging  ditches,  and  building  fortifications.  These 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  361 

works,  that  seemed  useless  then,  afterward  served  to  protect  our 
army  under  General  Thomas,  and  many  a  brave  fellow  who 
found  shelter  in  them,  gave  thanks  to  the  men  whose  efforts  had 
built  them.  At  Franklin  came  that  senseless  order,  putting  us  in 
line  of  battle,  long  before  daylight,  and  keeping  us  there  until 
General  Granger  should  wake  from  his  morning  sleep,  and  order 
"  recall"  sounded  from  the  fort.  That  order  would  have  cost  us 
the  lives  of  fifty  noble  men,  if  we  had  not  violated  its  spirit,  and 
spent  the  time  in  drill. 

Our  march  from  Franklin  to  Triune  you  have  not  forgotten. 
I  shall  never  forget  how  those  knapsacks  of  yours  looked  on  that 
June  morning.  Many  a  fellow,  anxious  to  save  extra  shoes  and 
blankets,  started  with  knapsack  larger  than  himself.  We  had  not 
marched  more  than  five  miles,  before  you  began  to  strew  the 
ground  with  boots,  shoes,  overcoats,  blankets,  etc.  This  was  our 
first  march  after  Chaplain  Cartwright  joined  the  command. 
Seeing  this  great  waste  of  property,  the  Chaplain  undertook  to 
save  it;  riding  up  to  the  head  of  the  Regiment,  he  told  me  what 
was  going  on.  I  told  him  it  was  all  right,  that  you  ought  to 
lighten  your  load.  "But,"  said  he,  "the  poor  fellows  will  need  their 
blankets."  That  night  the  Chaplain  rode  into  camp,  with  his  horse 
loaded  with  blankets,  and  calling  to  the  boys,  he  gave  to  each  his 
own.  The  Chaplain  followed  this  until,  one  day,  some  wicked 
chap  claimed  the  Chaplain's  own  blanket,  and  left  him  to  sleep 
without  any  covering.  This  was  the  first  time  that  Brother 
Cartwright  entertained  a  doubt  but  that  everv  Union  soldier  was 
a  good  honest  Christian.  The  second  doubt  came  when  he  traded 
horses  with  a  cavalryman,  and  got  a  horse  so  religious  that  he 
would  always  kneel,  in  going  down  hill.  This  march  to  Triune 
brought  us  into  the  movement  against  Tullahoma. 

During  the  following  month,  we  were  mounted  and  attached 
to  Wilder's  Brigade.  Could  you  have  seen  us  as  we  were  first 
mounted,  you  would  not  have  wondered  that  General  John  E. 
Smith  called  us  "Mamelukes."  We  had  horses  and  mules  of 
every  age,  size  and  color.  In  August  we  crossed  the  Cumberland 
Mountains,  demonstrating  against  Chattanooga.  Recrossing  the 
mountains,  we  reported  to  General  Thomas  at  Trenton,  Georgia, 
and,  on  the  morning  of  the  ninth  of  September,  entered  Chat- 
tanooga, and  unfurled  on  the  Crutchfield  House  our  flag — the  first 
Stars  and  Stripes  seen  in  that  city  since  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter. 

I  must  not  attempt  to  trace  longer  in  detail  the  history  of  our 
command — I  can  say  of  it,  without  detracting  from  others,  that 
45 


362  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

in  camp,  on  the  march,  in  battle — everywhere  it  did  its  duty, 
whenever  that  was  made  known.  Its  discipline  and  drill  were 
above  the  average.  Its  fighting  qualities  below  none.  Those  who 
measure  the  service  of  a  Regiment,  or  its  bravery,  by  its  losses, 
fail  of  a  correct  estimate.  I  remember  in  the  Chicamauga  battle, 
that  in  less  than  five  minutes  we  lost,  in  killed  and  wounded, 
thirty  men,  and  it  was  at  a  time  and  in  a  place  where  we  were 
doing  no  possible  good.  He  is  a  good  commander  who  accom- 
plishes the  object  desired  with  the  least  loss  of  life.  The  life  of 
a  Union  soldier  was  too  precious  to  be  sacrificed  to  gratify  the 
ambition  of  a  reckless  leader. 

It  would  be  pleasant  to  follow  the  Regiment  into  battle,  to  tell 
you  where,  and  how  they  fought.  But  this  has  formed  no  part  of 
my  purpose.  Three  years  ago  General  Atkins  gave  a  detailed 
account  of  the  Regiment  in  battle.  Since  that  time  it  has  become 
history,  and  you  can  read  it  there.  The  record  is  one  of  which 
all  are  proud.  No  stain  of  dishonor  rests  upon  it.  It  has  been  my 
purpose,  rather,  to  make  mention  of  a  few  of  the  pleasing 
remembrances  of  the  past;  to  call  to  mind  some  of  the  unwritten 
history  of  the  Regiment.  Of  course  I  cannot  picture  these 
events  to  do  them  justice. 

I  might  describe  to  you  Doctor  Winston  on  horseback,  or 
Captain  Schermerhorn  as  a  cook,  or  Captain  "  Bobb  Shorty"  on 
parade,  and  yet  you  could  not  appreciate  fully  those  events  with- 
out the  sight  of  the  natural  eye.  I  am  sure  if  you  should  see  the 
Doctor  on  horseback,  or  eat  one  of  Schermerhorn's  camp  dinners, 
you  would  never  forget  it. 

Camp  life  was  not  altogether  as  unpleasant  as  the  people  at 
home  were  in  the  habit  of  believing.  It  had  its  bright  and  its 
dark  days — its  sunshine  and  its  shadows — its  January  and  its  June. 
It  was  not  always  without  social  enjoyments.  You  have  never 
had  a  finer  time  at  home  in  your  parlors  than  we  used  to  enjoy 
when  our  Captain  Becker  used  to  sing  of  home,  and  friends,  and 
country.  How  often  that  trundle-bed  song — so  simple,  yet  so 
beautiful — used  to  take  us  back  over  the  by-gone  years  to  child- 
hood's happy  hours.  And  then  came  Hope,  painting  the  future 
in  characters  of  living  light  and  beauty. 

[General  Sheets  here  suggested  that  it  might  be  a  good  thing 
if  the  Captain  would  sing  that  good  old  song  right  at  that  time. 
The  Captain  came  forward,  amid  applause,  and  gave  the  song, 
when  General  Sheets  continued:] 

Do  you  imagine  that  Lawver  or  Skinner  ever  enjoyed  a  social 


NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  363 

gathering  more  than  that  near  Bridgeport,  Alabama,  where  each 
of  them  took  behind  him  on  his  horse  a  buxom  Alabama  girl  and 
went  with  "  we  uns"  to  the  party  ?  All  went  merry  at  the  party, 
but  on  the  way  home  Skinner's  girl  fell  from  the  horse,  and  buried 
herself  in  Alabama  mud,  so  that  neither  Lawver  nor  Skinner,  nor 
both  combined,  could  lift  her  on  the  horse  again.  Do  you  think 
Schermerhorn  was  ever  more  tranquil  than  when  he  used  to  visit 
Widow  Lewis,  down  at  Trianna?  Even  that  long  row  of  hats 
failed  to  give  him  pain.  Trianna  was  a  great  town  for  widows. 
It  was  the  custom  there  to  hang  a  hat  of  each  departed  husband 
on  the  wall  as  a  remembrance  of  the  loved  ones  gone.  Widow 
Lewis  had  ten  of  these  hats.  The  Captain  was  there  one  day  (of 
course  he  was  inquiring  about  the  departed  loved  ones),  and  while 
he  was  thus  engaged  some  wicked  fellow  stole  his  horse  and 
equipments,  and  Schermerhorn  never  saw  them  again. 

Speaking  of  hats  reminds  me  of  a  fellow  of  Company  F, 
whom  I  saw  hatless  one  day — 

I  remember  Petermyre,  one  of  the  boys  ot  Company  F.  It 
was  near  Ringgold,  in  Georgia;  we  had  received  orders  to  report 
to  General  Rosecrans,  at  Lafayette,  Georgia — and,  by  the  way, 
General  Rosecrans  himself  never  went  quite  so  far  south  as 
Lafayette,  for  Bragg,  with  his  Rebel  army  and  with  the  reinforce- 
ments of  Longstreet,  from  Lee's  army,  at  that  time  lay  between 
us  and  Lafayette — but  we  had  our  orders,  and  pushed  out  bright 
and  early  on  the  road  for  Lafayette.  Near  Ringgold,  we  struck  a 
division  of  Rebel  cavalry  under  Forrest.  General  Atkins  was  com- 
manding, and  he  had  formed  a  line  of  battle  across  the  road,  facing 
south,  with  the  right  flank  resting  on  the  Chicamauga  River,  and 
the  left  flank  on  the  mountain,  and  we  were  pushing  the  enemy 
with  our  Spencer  Rifles,  when  suddenly  the  enemy's  line  of  skir- 
mishers gave  way,  and  we  charged  up  to  their  main  line.  Peter- 
myre had  got  far  in  advance  of  the  rest — had,  in  fact,  dashed  right 
in  among  the  Rebels.  Pretty  soon  he  came  down  the  road  on 
foot,  and  I  asked  him  what  he  was  coming  back  for,  and  he  said : 
"  O,  Colonel,  Colonel,  dey  shoots  my  horse,  dey  shoots  my  gun, 
dey  shoots  me  here,  and  dey  shoots  me  dar,  and  I'se  almost 
dead!"  And  sure  enough  Petermyre's  horse  had  been  killed 
under  him;  another  bullet  had  wounded  him;  another  bullet  still 
had  struck  him,  and  lodged  in  the  side  of  his  pocket-book ;  and 
yet  another  bullet  had  shattered  and  torn  away  the  butt  of  his 
Spencer  Rifle.  It  seemed  laughable  to  me  at  the  time,  but  I 


364  N1NETT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

didn't  feel  like  scolding  him  for  coming  back.  You  see  Peter- 
m  jre  could  not  capture  all  of  Forrest's  cavalry  alone ! 

While  we  were  lying  on  the  Tennessee  River,  General  Atkins 
sent  me  out  one  day  to  visit  the  picket  posts.  It  was  against 
orders  to  kill  the  animals  in  the  country,  but  sometimes  the  boys 
would  kill  a  hog,  particularly  if  they  thought  they  would  not  be 
caught  at  it.  "  Dide"  Haggart  was  on  picket  at  one  of  the  posts 
I  visited,  and  when  I  rode  up  to  the  post  the  first  thing  I  saw  was 
a  handsome  porker,  killed  and  dressed;  "Dide"  was  greatly  fright- 
ened, but  he  was  equal  to  the  occasion.  Said  he,  "Colonel,'' 

pointing  to  the  hog,  "  that  was  the  d dest  hog  I  ever  saw;  he 

came  at  me  with  his  mouth  wide  open,  and  I  had  to  shoot  him  to 
save  my  life."  I  thought  "Dide"  was  not  very  much  to  blame  for 
shooting  such  a  very  ferocious  hog,  and  he  escaped  punishment. 
The  next  morning  the  officers'  mess  had  fresh  pork  for  breakfast; 
but  the  cook  did  not  tell  where  it  came  from. 

I  have  a  notion  to  tell  a  story  about  our  good  old  Chaplain ;  I 
hardly  know  whether  I  had  better,  but  I  guess  I  will.  We  were 
on  the  march,  and  the  boys  came  across  %.  patch  of  sweet  potatoes, 
and  they  "  went  for  them,"  every  man  for  himself,  down  on  his 
hands  and  knees,  and  clawing  after  the  lucious  tubers,  and  the 
Chaplain  was  in  the  crowd.  By  and  by  the  owner  of  the  potato 
patch  came  out,  a  tall  gentleman,  in  a  suit  of  black  citizens' 
clothing,  with  white  neck-tie;  the  Chaplain  did  not  look  up  to  see 
him,  and  the  citizen  said,  '•  It  is  too  bad,  it  is  too  bad."  "  Yes," 
said  the  Chaplain,  "it  is  too  bad,"  but  kept  on  going  for  his  share 
of  the  sweet  potatoes.  "  Why,"  said  the  citizen,  "  I  am  a  min- 
ister of  the  gospel."  "  Yes,"  replied  the  Chaplain,  as  he  hauled 
out  a  big  potato,  "  so  be  I." 

These  incidents  were  of  every  day  occurrence.  If  it  were 
possible  to  gather  them  together,  they  would  form  an  interesting 
volume.  Who  will  ever  wish  to  forget  them?  And  it  in  this 
Reunion  we  shall  spend  the  hours  in  refreshing  our  memories  of 
the  past,  our  coming  will  not  be  in  vain.  We  may  talk  of 
heroic  deeds  ot  the  noble  ones  fallen,  of  the  cause  for  which  they 
fell,  and  in  all  this  find  that  which  will  be  pleasant  and  profitable. 

The  war  with  its  events  is  over.  I  trust  the  bugle  may  never 
again  call  us  or  our  children  to  the  field  of  strife.  It  was  a  fearful 
war.  The  Government  has  never,  and  can  never  reward  you  for 
the  hardships  and  perils  you  endured. 

You  can  only  look  for  your  reward  in  the  results  accom- 
plished. You  have  seen  the  hour  of  triumph.  You  have  seen 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  365 

our  beautiful  banner  carried  forward  to  victory.  You  gaze  to-day 
upon  its  bright  stars  and  ample  folds,  and  there  you  read  in 
characters  of  living  light  and  beauty,  those  sublime  words: — 
"  Liberty  and  Union — Now  and  Forever — One  and  Inseparable!" 

Your  valor  has  vindicated  the  honor  of  the  country,  and  saved 
it  from  Rebel  hate.  Aside  from  the  conscious  assurance  of  hav- 
ing done  your  duty  well,  you  have  the  thanks  of  all  loyal  hearts. 
The  people  have  never  forgotten  the  debt  of  gratitude  they  owe. 
Politicians  have,  and  would  still  deceive  you.  I  heard  them  say 
to  men  in  my  own  county,  "Go  to  the  war,  you  ought  to  go,  and 
when  you  return  the  people  will  bestow  upon  you  the  offices,  and 
hold  you  in  .remembrance."  And  yet,  with  the  exception  of  two 
or  three  post-offices,  I  know  of  no  Federal  positions  in  all  this 
Congressional  District  filled  by  soldiers.  You  were  good  to  stop 
bullets,  but  you  must  beg  if  you  would  fill  a  place  of  profit  or 
trust.  Offices  which  have  grown  out  of  the  war  are  filled  by 
men  who  never  smelled  powder,  and  all  over  the  land  there  are 
crippled  or  maimed  soldiers,  every  way  worthy,  struggling  in 
poverty  and  want.  These  things  have  been  so  in  the  past,  because 
this  patronage  has  been  used  by  the  politicians  to  secure  place  and 
power.  It  ought  not  to  be  so.  I  am  glad  to  say  that  I  believe 
this  District  is  now  represented  bv  a  man  who  thinks  more  of  his 
Christian  manhood  than  of  the  place  he  fills. 

I  rejoice  in  another  fact.  Higher  and  nobler  motives  than 
these  prompted  you  to  shoulder  your  guns  and  peril  your  lives 
for  your  country's  defense.  You  saw  the  flag  insulted  and  tram- 
pled in  the  dust,  and,  leaving  the  endearments  of  home,  you 
placed  friends,  and  property,  and  life  upon  the  altar  of  your 
country — a  willing  sacrifice.  You  have  saved  the  country  from 
Rebel  hate,  and  have  perpetuated,  to  yourselves  and  to  your 
children,  the  blessings  of  a  free  Government.  You  have  solved 
for  the  world  the  great  problem  of  self-government. 

The  crushing  of  the  great  Rebellion  here  has  done  more  to 
perpetuate  this  Republic,  and  to  plant  in  other  lands  the  germ  of 
civil  freedom  than  a  thousand  years  of  peaceful  discussion.  Such 
an  effect  has  b.een  produced  all  over  the  world  by  our  success, 
that  I  belive  those  simple  words,  "  I  am  an  American  citizen," 
would  bring  to  the  stranger  a  more  affectionate  and  a  broader 
shield  of  protection,  than  to  be  clothed  in  the  robes  of  royalty 
and  called  a  king.  Its  influence  will  be  seen  and  felt  all  over 
Europe — in  her  populous  cities,  and  in  her  mountain  fastnesses — 
and  shall  be  echoed  and  re-echoed  along  her  blood-stained  battle- 


366  NINETT-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

fields,   until  every   man   and   woman    struggling    for  a    nobler 
development  shall  read  with  new  joy  of  our  achievements  here. 

You  crushed  the  Rebellion.     You   destroyed  slavery,  and  iny 
these  years  of  strife  you  lifted  the  Government  over  a  thousand 
years   of    discussion,   and    placed  her   in   the   van   of   Christian 
civilization. 

In  1861  Jeff.  Davis  went  out  of  the  United  States  Senate  to 
destroy  the  Government  he  was  sworn  to  defend.  In  1869  Jeff. 
Davis's  seat  in  the  same  Senate  was  filled  by  a  colored  citizen  of 
Mississippi. 

Your  efforts  have  placed  the  Government  where  nothing  but 
gross  folly  can  ever  impede  its  progress.  We  may  go  forward  in 
triumph — leveling  the  mountains,  filling  up  the  valleys,  develop- 
ing our  soil,  laying  parallel  tracks  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
and  binding  with  these  cords  of  commercial  intercourse  East  and 
West,  North  and  South,  into  a  Union  so  firm  and  indissoluable, 
that,  under  the  providence  of  God,  even  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  it.. 

The  triumphs  of  our  civilization  shall  spread  all  over  this  land, 
covering  the  hills  and  vales,  the  green  riverside  and  broad  savan- 
nas of  our  young  continent. 

The  sword  shall  be  beaten  into  the  plewshare,  the  spear  into 
the  pruning-hook,  and  these  implements  of  industry,  in  the  hands 
of  a  free  and  brave  people,  shall  develop  here  a  continent  rich  in 
all  that  constitutes  true  wealth.  Should  traitors  ever  again  assail 
the  flag,  we  will  beat  the  plowshare  into  the  sword,  and  the  prun- 
ing hook  into  the  spear,  and  vindicate  again  the  honor  and  unity 
of  the  Government. 

A  career  of  unprecedented  glory  awaits  this  nation.  Disen- 
thralled from  the  sins  that  have  so  long  impeded  us,  we  wake  to 
a  new  life.  Already  the  darkness  disappears  and  the  morning 
light  gilds  the  horizon.  If  we  prove  true  to  our  high  trust,  the 
dreams  of  the  past  shall  more  than  be  realized.  I  see  the  nation 
coming  up  in  its  grandeur  to  the  fulfillment  of  its  lofty  destiny. 
Our  vast  territory  shall  be  peopled  with  an  industrious,  freedom- 
loving  people. 

Christian  civilization,  no  longer  an  apologist  for  slavery,  shall 
rear  here  her  imperishable  monuments,  and  science  and  art  shall 
gain  new  and  bloodless  victories,  while  the  songs  of  our  joy  shall 
float  out  over  all  lands,  and  shall  fill  all  climes. 

Here,  O  young  man,  here,  my  soldier  friend,  is  the  field  of  your 
glory.  Here  you  may  identify  yourself  with  interests  that  time 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  367 

cannot  destroy.  Here,  if  honest,  virtuous,  earnest,  you  may  assist 
in  moulding  for  this  nation  a  destiny  noble  and  grand.  Here  you 
may  grapple  with  the  grandest  problems  of  human  life.  Here  you 
may  set  in  motion  chords  of  influence  that  shall  vibrate  on  and 
on  through  the  coming  years.  Here,  however  humble  your  lot  in 
life  may  be,  you  may  aspire  to  be  good  and  great.  Here  every 
man  is  his  own  king,  and  may  write  his  history  in  characters  of 
light  and  beauty. 

Our  ranks  are  growing  thin.  One  by  one  we  shall  drop  away. 
But  the  ranks  in  the  great  battle  of  life  will  be  filled  by  our  chil- 
dren, or  children's  children. 

When  another  three  years  shall  roll  around,  some  who  hear  me 
now  will  have  listened  to  the  angel  reveille  on  the  other  shore. 
This  battle  of  life  is  an  earnest  battle.  In  it  we  need  stout  hands 
and  brave  hearts.  There  is  no  "  discharge"  in  this  conflict.  It  is 
not  a  muster  for  three  j'ears,  but  for  life.  Let  us  acquit  ourselves 
like  men.  If  we  shall  prove  as  true  to  ourselves  as  to  our  coun- 
try, the  future  will  be  radiant  with  hope  for  each  one.  Comrades, 
God  bless  you !  If  we  meet  no  more  here,  when  on  the  other 
shore  let  us  gather  at  the  great  Reunion.  Living,  I  shall  love  to 
remember  you.  Dying,  I  shall  hope  to  meet  you  where  the 
anthem  of  peace  and  good  will  is  unbroken. 

General  Sheets's  speech  was  received  with  shouts  of  laughter 
and  rounds  of  applause,  and  at  its  conclusion  it  was  unanimously 
resolved  that  it  should  be  printed  in  the  proceedings. 

After  music  by  the  Band,  Captain  Becker  again  came  forward 
and  sang  a  song.  The  audience  called  for  various  persons  to 
speak,  but  the  election  of  officers  for  the  ensuing  three  years  being 
in  order,  it  was  proceeded  with,  and  Captain  R.  M.  A.  Hawk  was 
elected  President.  The  ex-President  of  the  Association  intro- 
duced Captain  Hawk  to  the  audience  and  retired,  when  Captain 
Hawk  thanked  them  for  the  honor  conferred  upon  him,  and  took 
his  seat  as  the  presiding  officer.  Dick  McCann,  private  of  Com- 
pany D,  was  elected  Vice  President,  and  Al.  McClure,  private 
Company  C,  was  elected  Secretary. 

Chaplain  Cartwright  made  a  handsome  speech,  and  closed  by 
presenting  General  Smith  D.  Atkins,  late  Colonel  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  Illinois  Mounted  Infantry  Volunteers,  with  a  beautiful 
bouquet.  The  General  accepted  it,  and  in  a  short  speech  returned 
his  thanks  for  that,  and  the  many  tokens  of  kindness  he  had  re- 
ceived. He  referred  to  the  terrible  sacrifice  in  human  life  that  the 
putting  down  of  the  Rebellion  had  cost  the  nation ;  to  the  peaceful 


368  NINETY-SECONb   ILLINOIS. 

security  that  had  been  wrought  out  by  the  bloody  sacrifice  that 
the  nation  had  made,  and  to  the  bright  and  happy  future  that  was 
before  the  American  people. 

Major  Albert  Woodcock,  of  Ogle  county,  being  loudly  called 
for,  came  forward  and  made  an  eloquent  speech  of  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes.  He  was  feeling  good,  and  his  talk  made  others  feel 
good.  He  had  promised  the  boys  of  the  Ninety-Second  that  as 
long  as  he  was  County  Clerk  of  Ogle  county,  their  marriage 
licenses  should  cost  them  nothing.  He  had  already  issued  more 
than  a  hundred  marriage  licenses  on  those  terms,  and  he  thought 
when  a  pretty  girl  married  one  of  the  members  of  the  Ninety- 
Second  that  was  a  recruit  mustered  in ;  every  time  one  of  the  old 
members  became  a  father,  and  that  was  pretty  often,  that  was  an- 
other recruit  mustered  in;  and  so  the  old  Regiment  was  growing, 
and  getting  larger  and  larger  every  year.  He  thought  that  at 
every  Reunion  the  wives  and  babies  should  be  brought  along,  and 
then  every  Reunion  would  be  larger  and  larger.  Captain  Horace 
J.  Smith  was  called  for,  and  it  was  said  that  if  he  could  not  make 
a  speech,  he  could  at  least  show  himself  on  the  stand,  and  make 
such  a  speech  as  Grant  makes,  but  the  Captain  rose  up  in  the  body 
of  the  hall,  and  modestly  said  he  could  not  "Grant  it."  Captain 
Schermehorn,  Dr.  Tom  Winston,  Captain  Becker,  and  many 
others  were  called  for,  but  they  declined. 

The  singing  by  Captain  Becker  has  not  been  surpassed  in  the 
Opera  House.  The  music  by  the  Winslow  Band  was  splendid. 

On  motion,  a  vote  of  thanks  was  tendered  to  Mr.  Wilcoxon, 
for  the  generous  donation  of  the  free  use  of  the  Opera  House,  and 
to  the  Freeport  Zouaves,  for  turning  out  on  the  occasion. 

On  motion,  it  was  resolved  that  the  next  Reunion  of  the 
Ninety-Second  Illinois  Mounted  Infantry  Volunteers  be  held  at 
Mt.  Carroll,  three  years  from  the  fourth  day  of  September  inst. — 
to-wit:  September  fourth,  1873. 

At  about  six  o'clock  P.  M.,  the  meeting  finally  adjourned,  and 
after  manj'  hand-shakings  and  good-byes,  the  hall  was  emptied. 

R.  M.  A.  HAWK,  President. 
AL.  McCLURE,  Secretary. 

The  third  Reunion  of  the  Ninety-Second  was  held  at  Mt.  Car- 
roll, Carroll  County,  September  fourth,  1873.  We  take  the  follow- 
ing account  of  it  from  the  Freeport  Journal : 

Our  reporter  wended  his  way  to  the  Western  Union  Railway 
depot,  in  Freeport,  at  8:40,  last  Thursday  morning,  and  found 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  369 

about  one  hundred  and  fifty  people  waiting  for  the  Mt.  Carroll 
train.     The  railroad  people  at  Freeport  had  evidently  not  antici- 
pated such  a  rush,  and  had  made  no  arrangements  for  passenger 
coaches;  but  the  gentlemanly  agent,   Mr.  E.  C.  Fitch,  did  all  he 
could   to  make  the  passengers  comfortable,  by  adding  four  extra 
cabooses  to  the  train,  and  with  the  cabooses  packed  full,  the  train 
soon  started.     The  train  was  a  heavy  one,  and  did  not  make  very 
fast  time,  but  reached  Mt.  Carroll  about  twelve  o'clock  M.,  where 
Major  Hawk,  President  of   the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Reunion 
Association,  was  in  waiting,  with  a  committee  on  reception,  and 
a  brass   band,  with  ample  omnibus  room  to  convey  the  entire 
party   free   to  the   picnic  grounds  in   the  Court  House  Square. 
Reaching  there,  after  a  pleasant  ride  through  the  beautiful  city  of 
Mt.  Carroll,  the  party  found  a  large  number  of  ladies  and  gentle- 
men already  assembled.     President  Hawk  called  the  assemblage 
to  order,  and  after  prayer  by  the   Rev.   Barton  H.  Cartwright, 
Chaplain  of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Volunteers,  Hon.  H.  A. 
Mills,    Mayor  of    Mt.    Carroll,   delivered    a   beautiful    and    ap- 
propriate  welcoming    address   to    the    soldiers    of   the   various 
regiments,  and  their  friends.     After  reading  the  programme  of 
the  day's  exercises,  President  Hawk  invited  the  assembled  multi- 
tude to  partake  of  a  bountiful  dinner  provided  by  the  citizens  of 
Mt.   Carroll,  set   upon  tables  in  the  open  air;  after  all  had  assem- 
bled around  the  tables,  thanks  were  returned  by  the  Chaplain,  and 
all   were  supplied  with  one  of  the  best  dinners  our  reporter  ever 
saw   out  of   doors.     There   was  everything   in   abundance,  and 
everything  of  the  nicest  and  best,  especially  the  hot  coffee  and 
genuine  Carroll   County  blue  grass  dairy  cream.     The  ladies  of 
Mt.  Carroll  waited  upon  the  tables,  and  pressed  upon  their  guests 
the  dainties  their  superior  cookery   had   provided.      There   was 
room  for  all   the  hundreds  there  assembled,  and  abundance  pro- 
vided, and  no  hurry    and  no  confusion.     If  the  good  citizens  of 
Mt.  Carroll  could  have  heard  the  universal  praise  accorded  them, 
they  would  never  regret  the  trouble  and  expense  they  voluntarily 
imposed  upon  themselves. 

After  dinner,  the  Black  Oak  Brass  Band  again  discoursed 
sweet  music;  and  while  the  Band  played,  the  audience,  numbering 
fully  one  thousand  ladies  and  gentlemen,  assembled  around  the 
speaker's  stand,  and  were  called  to  order  by  Major  R.  M.  A. 
Hawk,  President  of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Volunteer  Re- 
union Association,  who  introduced  Chaplain  Cartwright,  who 
addressed  the  Heavenly  Father,  in  one  of  his  old-fashioned,  soul- 
46 


370  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

stirring  Methodist  prayers.  The  boys  of  the  Ninety-Second 
Illinois  are  very  warm  in  praise  of  their  beloved  old  Chaplain, 
and  he  deserves  it;  for  if  there  is  a  sincere  Christian  man  on  the 
face  of  the  globe,  Rev.  Barton  H.  Cartwright  is  one.  Music 
followed  prayer,  and  then  the  President  introduced  the  orator  of 
the  day,  Major  Albert  Woodcock,  of  Ogle  County,  who  spoke  as 
follows : 

DEAR  COMRADES  AND  BROTHERS:  With  a  heart  wild  with 
happiness,  I  greet  you.  Mr.  President,  .endeared  to  us  by  ties 
made  sacred  by  the  great  loss  you  sustained  for  the  old  flag,  we, 
your  brothers,  greet  you.  Meeting,  dear  comrades,  as  we  do,  on  this, 
our  Thanksgiving  day,  about  the  family  heart  of  the  old  Ninety- 
Second,  with  joy,  with  gladness  we  greet  and  embrace  each  other. 
Brave  comrades  of  other  regiments,  you  who  shared  with  us  the 
march,  the  bivouac  and  battle,  should  you  be  here,  we  greet  you. 
We  bid  you  welcome  to  this  our  encampment;  welcome  to  break 
with  us  a  little  hard  tack,  and  share  with  us  our  social  joy. 

You  will  remember,  dear  boys,  in  the  South,  at  the  close  of 
the  day,  as  we  went  into  bivouac,  whether  it  was  upon  the  moun- 
tain tops,  banks  of  snowy  clouds  beneath  us,  or  in  the  valley  by 
the  spring,  jutting  crag,  and  mountain  peaks  towering  above  us, 
or  in  the  piney  woods  of  the  South,  near  the  cypress  swamp,  or 
beneath  the  giant  live  oaks,  the  air  fragrant  with  magnolia  blos- 
soms,— no  sooner  would  the  camp-fire  be  lighted  than  the  story 
would  run  the  round.  This  one  would  tell  of  a  hair-breadth  escape ; 
that  one,  of  an  amusing  adventure  while  foraging;  and  another 
would  tell  the  story  of  Chicamauga,  or  some  other  battle  scene. 
O,  boys,  how  we  enjoyed  those  narrations,  as  we  sipped  our 
amber-hued  coffee  from  our  cups  of  tin,  or  watched  the  blossom- 
ing tobacco  smoke  curl  upward  from  our  pipes  of  brier-wood. 
The  story,  the  song,  the  joke,  the  laugh  would  gladden  the  heart, 
till  sleep  would  step  in  and  assert  its  power.  The  fatigued  form 
would  then  sink  upon  the  ground — its  bed ;  the  head  reclining  upon 
the  saddle  for  a  pillow;  the  star-studded  blue  above  for  curtains; 
the  sighing  of  the  winds  through  the  pine  tops,  or  the  song  of  the 
mocking  birds — a  lullaby.  Sweet  sleep  would  then,  in  dreams, 
restore  home  and  loved  ones  distant.  The  march,  the  scout,  the 
battle  of  life  for  the  past  three  years,  have  ended,  and  we  are 
again  in  camp.  Our  camp-fires  are  already  ablaze.  Here  are  our 
head-quarters.  There  is  our  commander.  He  has  detailed  me, 
and  placed  me  on  duty,  not  for  picket,  but  to  tell  our  oft-repeated 
story.  In  our  command  are  our  Brutuses  of  silver-tongue  and 


NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  371 

famed  oratory ;  but  poor  Mark  Antony  is  before  you  to-day,  of 
broken  speech  and  hesitating  tongue ;  but  no  Ninety-Second  boy 
ever  disobeyed  orders ;  hence,  respected  commander,  your  order  I 
obey.  Were  no  one  present,  boys,  but  you,  I  would  not  care ;  but 
citizens,  our  friends — God  bless  them — are  here.  What  I  may 
say  will  be  about  ourselves ;  hence  our  friends  will  not  think  us 
guilt}'  of  self-praise.  What  little  I  may  relate  of  the  history  of 
the  Ninety-Second  to-day,  in  the  hearts  of  comrades  here  of  other 
regiments,  will  stir  up  sweet  memories  in  their  own  history. 
What  deeds  of  valor  of  Ninety-Second  boys  I  may  describe,  will 
be  but  a  fac  similie  of  brave,  daring  deeds  of  their  own.  Friday 
morning,  October  eleventh,  1862,  we  bid  good-bye  to  our  weeping 
friends  at  Rockford,  and  rolled  away  for  the  seat  of  war.  Sunday 
forenoon,  October  thirteenth,  we  crossed  the  Ohio  into  Dixie  land, 
commencing  a  series  of  marches  of  which  the  memory  to  you 
and  me  is  terrible ;  it  was  the  saddest  experience  of  our  soldier 
life.  It  killed  many  of  our  comrades,  and  you,  boys,  to-day  feel 
the  effects  of  it.  The  country  was  dried  up — a  drouth  had  been 
in  the  land ;  the  sun  was  fearfully  hot,  ranging  from  85  °  to  100°  . 
The  whole  army  was  moving,  and  the  roads  were  terribly  cut  up ; 
the  dust  was  ankle  deep,  and  rolled  in  whirling  clouds  heaven- 
ward; so  thick  was  it  that  you  could  scarcely  see  your  file  leader; 
dust  was  in  your  nose,  your  mouth,  your  throat  and  your  lungs; 
you  could  scarcely  breathe.  On  your  back  was  strapped  the 
ponderous  knapsack;  from  your  shoulder  hung  the  haversack, 
full  of  hard  tack  and  old  pork.  The  cartridge  box  and  accoutre- 
ments, nearly  as  heavy  as  a  buggy  harness,  was  upon  you.  Your 
clothes  were  wool,  your  shoes  heavy  brogans,  forty-five  rounds  of 
ammunition  were  in  your  box,  with  the  long  Enfield  Rifle  and 
bayonet  on  your  shoulder.  You  were  loaded  down  like  a  mule. 
Staggering  under  such  a  burthen,  you  would  march,  march, 
march,  tramp,  tramp,  tramp,  wondering  when  the  bugle  would 
sound  the  halt.  Your  throat  would  become  dry  and  parched; 
your  lips  hot  and  fevered.  You  would  feel  dizzy,  and  wonder 
whether  you  would  hold  out.  Here  and  there  you  would  see  a 
comrade  faint  and  fall,  but  'twas  nothing  but  a  soldier  or  two,  now 
and  then,  and  the  columns  kept  on.  Guards  were  stationed  all 
along  the  road.  Kentucky  did  not  secede,  and  those  people  were 
a  very  loyal  people.  A  guard  was  at  every  house.  You  saw  the 
oaken  bucket,  the  iron-bound  bucket,  the  moss-covered  bucket 
that  hung  at  the  well.  O,  how  you  longed  for  the  pure  sparkling 
cold  water  to  slake  your  thirst,  but  a  guard  was  there !  Those 


372  N1NETT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

people  were  a  very  loyal  people,  you  know;  and  the  well  water 
you  could  not  touch.  You  were  ordered  to  halt  at  the  frog-pond 
beyond,  and  there  slake  your  thirst.  At  the  pond,  with  your 
hand  you  would  carefully  remove  the  crust  of  green  scum  from 
the  surface,  which  enabled  you  to  see  the  dead  mule  in  the  bottom 
of  the  pond  whose  flesh  seasoned  the  water.  Not  minding  the 
bugs  and  polliwogs  that  came  in  your  way,  you  drank  and  drank, 
till  you  were  full.  You  rilled  your  canteens,  and  then  it  was 
again  march,  tramp,  tramp,  tramp.  In  this  way  you  marched  all 
over  the  State  of  Kentucky;  up  this  pike,  down  that  pike,  hither, 
thither,  yonder;  sometimes  after  Morgan  and  his  troops,  they  on 
horseback,  you  on  foot.  During  these  scenes  of  trial,  it  was 
pleasant  to  witness  the  acts  of  kindness  shown  by  comrades  to 
each  other.  It  was  a  common  sight  to  see  a  soldier  carrying  the 
knapsack  of  a  weaker  one  in  addition  to  his  own.  I  remember 
one  day  of  seeing  a  brawny-shouldered  old  chap,  who  lives  some- 
where hereabouts,  carrying  three  knapsacks  of  his  boys.  While 
thus  marching  and  suffering,  patriotism  and  love  of  the  old  flag 
buoyed  up  the  heart  and  animated  the  spirit,  and  the  joke  and 
laugh  went  round.  Often  while  passing  through  a  village,  the 
whole  Regiment  would  burst  into  song,  led  by  our  grand  old 
singer,  and  the  sky  would  ring  again  and  again  with  the  following 

stanzas : 

"  Yes,  we'll  rally  'round  the  flag,  boys, 

We'll  rally  once  again, 

Shouting  the  battle-cry  of  freedom ; 

We'll  rally  from  the  hill-side, 

We'll  rally  from  the  plain, 

Shouting  the  battle-cry  of  freedom. 

The  Union  forever,  hurrah,  boys,  hurrah! 

Down  with  the  traitors,  up  with  the  Stars, 

While  we  rally  'round  the  flag,  boys, 

Rally  once  again, 

Shouting  the  battle-cry  of  freedom." 

Our  Regiment  was  never  captured  but  once,  and  that  was  in 
Kentucky.     It  was  taken  by  negroes.     It  will  not  be  far  from  the 
truth  for  me  to  state,  that  every  shoulder  strap,  and  every  boy  in 
the  Regiment,  had  one  or  more  black  servants;  fine,  thick  woolly- 
headed  fellows  they  were,  each  one  worth  from  $2,000   to   $3,000. 
After  leaving  Mt.  Sterling,  the  order  of  march  was : — 
ist.  The  advance  guard, 
and.  The  Band. 


NINBTT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  373 

3rd.  The  Colonel  and  Regimental  officers. 

4th.  The  rank  and  file. 

5th.  The  colored  recruits. 

6th.  A  very  heavy  rear  guard,  with  bristling  bayonets. 

7th.  The  Sheriffs  of  Kentucky. 

8th.  And  last,  the  fat,  rotund,  Manor  Lords,  slave  owners. 

The  Sheriffs  wanted  our  Colonel;  the  Lords,  our  colored  re- 
cruits. February  second,  1863,  we  left,  with  great'  rejoicing,  the 
very  loyal  State  of  Kentucky.  On  board  steamers  Tempest  and 
Arizona,  for  seven  days  and  nights,  we  steamed  down  the  Ohio 
and  up  the  Cumberland.  Those  were  days  and  nights  of  suffer- 
ing to  you,  my  comrades;  soldiers,  niggers  and  mules  were  mixed 
up  together  in  grand  chaos.  It  was  in  dead  winter.  The  icy 
winds  of  the  North  seemed  to  be  let  loose;  they  howled  about  our 
boat,  shrieking  between  decks,  and  piping  through  every  nook 
and  cranny.  It  seemed  to  you  your  hearts  would  stop  beating, 
you  were  so  cold.  You  crawled  about  the  boilers,  and  some  of 
you  climbed  on  top  of  them ;  some  of  you  crept  under,  your  side 
next  the  boiler  roasting,  your  other  side  freezing.  Some  of  you 
could  notlget  to  the  boiler,  and,  blue,  and  cold,  you  shivered,  your 
teeth  making  doleful  music.  I  heard  some  of  you  say,  "  It's  a 
hard  way  to  serve  the  country."  I  heard  others  wish  they  were 
in  a  fight. 

Our  Kentucky  marches  helped  largely  to  populate  Danville 
cemeteries.  Our  steamboat  march  in  winter  added  many  to  the 
cemeteries  of  Nashville.  Of  our  noble  dead  of  Danville,  I  remem- 
ber Captain  William  Stouffer.  He  was  a  fine  looking  soldier,  as 
straight  as  an  arrow,  with  flashing  black  eyes,  and  commanding 
mien.  As  a  companion,  he  was  genial  and  pleasant,  and  as  a  com- 
pany commander,  respected  and  loved  by  his  men.  He  was  mus- 
tered out  of  the  service  by  the  great  Captain  of  all  armies  Janu- 
ary twenty-first,  1863.  Of  our  patriotic  dead  of  Nashville,  I 
remember  Lieutenant  David  B.  Colehour.  He  was  a  fine  boy, 
and  every  inch  a  soldier.  His  frank,  open  face,  and  large,  gener- 
ous heart,  made  everybody  his  friend.  No  braver  soldier  ever 
died,  more  regretted,  than  did  our  Lieutenant  boy.  The  country, 
in  his  death,  met  a  great  loss,  but  heaven  acquired  a  rich  gain. 
He  was  transferred  from  the  Ninety-Second  to  heaven's  glorious 
army  March  seventeenth,  1863. 

Save  the  hardy  mountaineers  of  the  Cumberland  Range,  the 
people  of  Tennessee  were  not  very  loyal  people,  hence  the  crystal 
well,  and  the  singing  rill  furnished  us  with  pure,  sparkling,  cold 


374  NINBTT-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

water  to  drink ;  chickens,  ducks,  pigs,  honey,  sweet  potatoes  and 
green  corn,  food  to  eat;  and  the  fences,  cedar  rails  with  which  to 
cook  our  food. 

While  at  Franklin,  you  remember,  boys,  the  little  pleasure  trip 
we  took  with  Phil.  Sheridan  to  Duck  River?  Phil,  was  so  mad 
that  the  Rebs  would  not  stand  and  fight  that  he  double-quicked 
us  all  the  way  back  to  camp.  You  remember,  too,  while  at  Tri- 
une, the  Rebs  had  the  impudence  to  move  up  and  shell  our  camp? 
While  in  line  of  battle,  awaiting  orders,  the  shells  screaming  over, 
Brother  Cartwright,  who  had  just  joined  us  as  a  new  recruit 
(Chaplain),  came  dashing  along  on  his  war-horse,  a  rifle  upon  his 
shoulder,  with  the  exclamation :  "  Why  don't  you  move  out, 
boys?  Move  out  and  pitch  into  them !  "  Brother  Cartwright  had 
not  yet  learned  the  lesson  which  we  had  already  conned  over — to 
wait,  wearily,  patiently  wait,  for  orders. 

July  second,  1863,  was  the  day  of  jubilee  for  the  Ninety-Sec- 
ond, for  then  we  were  mounted,  and  armed  with  the  Spencer 
Rifle.  I  cannot  stop  to  tell  how  we  chased  Bragg  through  Ten- 
nessee— a  skirmish  here,  and  a  fight  there;  nor  of  the  noble  rivers 
we  crossed;  nor  of  our  fine  encampments  on  the  Cumberland 
Range,  from  which  we  could  see  into  five  different  States,  bil- 
lowy, sun-lit  clouds  beneath  us,  the  serene  blue  above  us;  nor  of 
the  beautiful  valleys  we  passed  through ;  not  even  old  Sequatchie, 
whose  rich  crops  of  green  corn  saved  us  and  our  horses  from  star- 
vation. By  the  way — an  incident:  When  we  first  descended 
from  the  mountain  into  Sequatchie,  you  remember,  boys,  we  ran 
into  a  band  of  Rebs,  capturing  a  few,  the  rest  escaping  up  through 
the  valley?  As  we  filed  along  the  road,  I  noticed  Brother  Cart- 
wright in  the  distance,  in  front  of  a  mourning  group.  He  called 
to  me ;  I  rode  to  his  side,  and  there  witnessed  a  heartrending 
scene.  It  was  a  mother  with  a  babe  in  her  arms,  and  three  or 
four  little  ones  clinging  to  her  skirts.  She  was  wringing  her 
hands  in  terrible  agony,  and  was  wild  with  grief.  She  said,  "Oh ! 
if  you  had  only  come  a  little  sooner  my  husband  would  be  living, 
and  this  great  sorrow  would  not  be  upon  me.  They  (referring  to 
the  flying  Rebs)  conscripted  my  husband  this  morning,  saying  he 
should  serve  in  the  Confederate  army.  My  husband  told  them  he 
loved  his  country,  and  would  die  before  he  would  fight  against  the 
old  flag;  they  then  led  him  out  a  little  ways  from  the  house,  and 
shot  him  down,  murdering  him  before  my  eyes.  Oh!  he  was 
brave,  he  was  good,  he  was  true ;  my  poor,  dear,  dear,  dead  hus- 
band!" 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  375 

The  great  tears  trembled  down  Brother  Cartwright's  cheeks 
as  he  pointed  the  sorrow-stricken  woman  for  comfort  to  the 
Father  of  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow's  Friend. 

I  must  not,  dear  boys,  linger  to  tell  of  our  break-neck  ride  over 
Lookout's  craggy  head,  where  Jo  Hooker  afterward  fought  the 
Rebs  above  the  clouds;  nor  how  the  Ninety-Second,  being  in  ad- 
vance of  the  entire  army,  and,  charging  the  Rebs,  your  guns  were 
the  first  to  echo  and  re-echo  among  the  crags  and  ragged  rocks  of 
Lookout  Mountain;  and  how  the  Ninety-Second  flag  was  the 
first  to  float  over  Lookout's  crest,  and  the  first  to  wave  over  Chat- 
tanooga. 

The  night  of  that  day,  September  ninth,  1863,  we  encamped  at 
Boyce's  plantation,  which  was  an  extensive  grape  vineyard.  From 
his  cellars,  you  remember,  boys,  you  rolled  out  several  casks  of 
wine.  Every  man  in  the  Regiment  drank  and  became  merry. 
It  was  said  that  even  the  Chaplain  drank,  but  of  this  there  is  no 
proof;  that  he  was  merry,  is  true,  for  he  was  always  merry.  As 
the  canteens  went  round,  gurgling  out  their  sparkling  contents 
down  the  throats  of  Uncle  Sam's  boys,  the  joke,  the  laugh,  and 
the  song  were  had.  Every  boy's  heart  was  in  tune,  and  they  sang, 
with  Captain  Becker,  our  favorite  campaign  song,  as  composed  by 
General  Wolt,  near  the  heights  of  Quebec : 

"  How  stands  the  glass  around? 
For  shame,  ye  take  no  care,  my  boys ; 
How  stands  the  glass  around? 
Let  wine  and  mirth  abound. 

The  bugles  sound,  the  colors  they  are  flying,  boys ; 
To  fight,  kill,  or  wound, 

And  may  we  be  found,  content  with  our  hard  fate,  my  boys, 
On  the  cold  ground. 

Why,  soldiers,  why? 

Should  we  be  melancholy,  boys? 

Why,  soldiers,  why? 

Whose  business  'tis  to  die. 

Such  sighing!  fie!  drown  care,  drink  on,  my  jolly  boys, 

'Tis  he,  you  or  I. 

Cold,  hot,  wet  or  dry,  we're  always  bound  to  follow,  boys, 

And  scorn  to  fly. 

'Tis  but  in  vain; 

I  mean  not  to  upbraid  you,  boys ; 

'Tis  but  in  vain, 


376  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

For  a  soldier  to  complain. 

If  next  campaign  sends  us  to  Him  who  made  us,  boys, 

We're  freed  from  all  pain. 

But  if  we  do  remain,  the  bottle  and  kind  sweetheart,  boys, 

Cures  all  again." 

(At  this  point  Captain  Becker  was  called  out,  and  sang,  with 
great  effect,  the  foregoing  song,  when  Major  Woodcock  resumed.) 

Allow  me  to  say  that  Boyce's  wine  was  not  very  old;  that  the 
strongest  drink  the  Regiment  was  accustomed  to  imbibe  was 
coffee;  that,  if  my  memory  serves  me,  I  never  saw  a  Ninety- 
Second  boy  drunk,  and  I  never  expect  to.  The  days  that  followed 
were  days  of  blood.  September  nineteenth  and  twentieth  came 
the  terrible  battle  of  Chicamauga.  History  describes  it,  but  fails 
to  depict  its  horrors — no  pen  nor  tongue  can  do  that.  In  it,  boys, 
you  took  an  honorable  part;  some  of  you  bear  scars  to-day  of 
wounds  there  received;  some  of  you  are  cripples  for  life,  Captain 
Thompson,  of  Company  E,  of  that  number.  Many  of  our  brave 
comrades  sleep  the  sleep  of  death  upon  Chicamauga's  bank. 

In  this  battle  was  enacted  a  small  theatrical  scene.  The  actors 
were  General  Atkins  and  a  private  of  King's  brigade.  At  the 
time  the  earth  was  trembling,  quaking  beneath  the  united  dis- 
charge of  a  thousand  cannon,  while  the  roll  of  musketry 
sounded  like  muttering  thunder,  King's  brigade  in  front  of  us  had 
given  way  before  the  Rebs,  and  broke  through  our  ranks.  Gen- 
erals Atkins,  Sheets  and  others  tried  to  rally  them.  As  a  boy 
was  dashing  by,  the  General  ordered,  "  Halt! "  Boy  halted.  Gen- 
eral said,  "Fall  into  your  ranks!"  Boy  said,  "Show  me  my 
ranks."  General  said,  "  Fall  into  these  ranks,"  pointing  to  the 
Ninety-Second.  Boy  said,  "I  won't!"  General  Atkins's  sabre 
gleamed  in  the  sunlight  as  he  brought  it  up  in  the  attitude  of  the 
downward  stroke.  Boy  wheeled  into  position  of  guard  against 
cavalry.  Pantomime — General  Atkins,  towering  up  to  his  full 
heighth,  his  blade  gleaming,  quivering  as  it  was  about  descending 
upon  the  boy's  skull;  boy  at  a  guard,  with  long  Enfield  Rifle,  a 
wicked,  glittering  bayonet  on  its  end,  pointed  at  the  General's 
breast,  ready  to  parry.  The  pantomime  lasted  just  three  seconds, 
when  the  Rebel  fiends,  howling  like  devils  in  their  charge,  caused 
the  curtains  to  drop  upon  the  scene. 

In  the  month  of  April,  1864,  the  Regiment  was  stationed  at 
Ringgold,  doing  out-post  dutv  for  Sherman's  army.  From  Ring- 
gold,  in  a  south-west  direction,  for  many  miles  extends  Taylor's 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  377 

Ridge,  a  rocky,  sharp-crested  mountain,  being  a  part  of  the  Cum- 
berland Range.  On  the  opposite  side  of  this  mountain  was  the 
Rebel  army.  Along  this  range,  to  a  distance  of  ten  miles  from 
camp,  were  established  the  outposts,  or  videttes.  The  mounted 
men  were  so  few  in  number  that  to  occupy  this  space,  the  videttes 
had  to  be  stationed  too  far  apart ;  so  distant  that,  in  a  dark  night, 
the  enemy  could  pass  between  the  videttes  unseen.  We  who  did 
this  duty  knew  that  we  were  isolated  from  the  command,  and  in 
great  danger  of  being  killed  or  captured,  but  it  was  our  business  to 
obey  orders.  A  detail  for  forty-eight  hours,  every  other  morning, 
was  made  from  the  Regiment  for  this  duty.  When  the  detail 
would  start  from  camp  for  the  mountain,  we  were  wont  to  say 
jocosely,  "Good-bye,  boys;"  but  we  meant  it,  and  the  boys  knew 
it.  On  the  morning  of  the  twenty-second  of  April,  Captain  Sco- 
ville,  with  about  forty  men  from  the  Ninety-Second,  was  detailed 
for  the  ridge.  As  the  Captain,  with  his  men  mounted  and 
equipped,  were  making  their  way  out  of  the  camp  for  the  field  of 
danger,  as  usual  you  called  out,  "  Good-bye,  Lieutenant  Scoville, 
good-bye,  boys."  "  Good-bye,  good-bye,"  was  the  response.  It 
was  the  last  good-bye  spoken  by  many  of  that  noble  band.  The 
night  following  was  very  dark.  The  Rebels,  as  we  had  feared, 
passed  between  the  videttes,  and  accumulated  a  large  force  in  the 
rear  of  our  men;  they  barricaded  the  road  in  the  direction  of  camp. 
»  A  heavy  force  then  charged  over  the  ridge;  the  boys  were  sur- 
rounded ;  they  fought  with  desperation ;  several  were  killed  in  the 
fight;  crushed  with  overwhelming  numbers,  they  surrendered. 
The  Rebels,  on  horseback,  started  for  the  gap  below.  Our  boys,  on 
foot,  were  ordered  to  keep  up  with  them  as  they  trotted  their 
horses.  In  rear  of  the  boys  rode  the  Rebel  Lieutenant  Pointer, 
cursing  them  with  every  breath,  threatening  to  shoot  the  first 
man  that  failed  to  keep  up.  Soon,  overtaxed,  nature  began  to 
fail;  as  a  bov's  breath  grew  short  and  thick,  his  form  to  stagger, 
and  his  speed  to  diminish,  Pointer,  that  fiend  incarnate,  would 
shoot  him  through  the  heart.  Several  had  thus  been  cruelly 
murdered,  when  Willie  Cattanach,  of  Company  B,  began  to  totter 
and  his  strength  to  fail.  Pointer  threatened;  Willie  plead,  "Don't 
shoot  me,  I'll  keep  up."  Regardless  of  his  entreaty,  Pointer  fired; 
the  ball  struck  the  noble  boy,  but  he  did  not  fall,  and  continued  his 
exertion  to  keep  up;  the  black-hearted  villain  fired  again,  the  ball 
passing  through  Willie's  lungs,  inflicting  a  terrible  wound. 
Willie  fell,  mortally  wounded,  but  lived  long  enough  to  tell  the 
heart-rending  story.  Oh!  what  a  terrile  crime!  Can  such  a 
47 


378  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

wretchgounpunished?  I  trow  not.  If  he  is  not  already  suffer- 
ing for  his  crime,  a  terrible  retribution  will  overtake  him.  The 
next  morning  we  gathered  up  ten  dead  ones,  of  whom  the  largest 
part  were  foully  murdered.  The  larger  part  of  those  who  escaped 
murder  by  the  hand  of  Pointer,  were  afterward  murdered  by  star- 
vation and  terrible  suffering  in  Andersonville  Prison.  The  vows 
of  vengeance  on  the  part  of  the  Regiment  were  terrible.  You 
declared,  boys,  you  would  never  take  another  prisoner,  but 
would  shoot  every  Rebel  that  fell  into  your  power.  A  few  days 
afterward,  I  noticed  you  took  some  prisoners.  I  noticed,  too,  how 
well  you  kept  your  vows  of  a  terrible  revenge.  This  is  the 
manner  in  which  you  shot  them  down :  "  Johnny,  are  you  hun- 
gry?" "  Yes."  "Sit  down,  then,  by  me  on  this  log,  and  try  some 
of  Uncle  Sam's  hard-tack  and  sow-belly."  "  Johnny,  have  they 
any  coffee  where  you  came  from?"  "No,  blockade  can't  get 
any."  "  Try  a  little  coffee  and  sugar  in  this  tin  cup."  "  Where's 
your  blouse,  Johnny ?"  "  Hain't  got  none."  "Here,  take  mine; 
I  can  get  another  from  the  Quartermaster." 

I  must  not  stop  to  tell  of  your  advance  from  Ringgold  to  the 
OoStanaula;  thence  to  the  Etowa;  thence  to  the  Chattahoochee, 
fighting  your  way  as  you  went.  I  must  not  linger  to  tell  of  your 
raid  about  Atlanta,  in  which,  for  five  davs  and  nights,  you  were 
constantly  in  the  saddle,  without  a  wink  of  sleep  or  rest,  unless 
you  caught  it  on  horse,  being  almost  constantly  under  fire,  and 
in  which  Captain  Billy  Mayer  and  others  received  scars;  but  I 
will  relate  one  day's  experience  in  Sherman's  flank  movement 
that  gave  us  Atlanta. 

At  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  August  thirtieth,  1864, 
we  moved  on  the  road  toward  Jonesboro,  having  the  advance  of 
the  army  of  the  Tennessee.  General  Howard  was  in  command 
of  that  army,  General  Logan  commanding  the  Fifteenth  corps. 
We  skirmished  with  the  Rebs  constantly,  driving  them  easily 
till  we  reached  Bethsaida  Church,  where,  bevond  an  open  field, 
they  were  massed  behind  a  long  line  of  works.  Generals  Logan 
and  Kilpatrick  reconnoitered  the  position.  Kilpatrick  said,  "Logan, 
throw  forward  some  of  your  infantry,  and  charge  them  out." 
Logan  said,  ."Kilpatrick,  you  are  a  charging  man,  charge  your- 
self." The  General  then  ordered  Colonel  Baldwin,  of  the  5th 
Kentucky  Cavalry,  to  make  the  charge.  The  Colonel  replied, 
"  I'll  be  d — d  if  I  do  it.  It's  not  the  business  of  cavalry  to  charge 
fortifications."  Colonel  Baldwin,  not  long  after,  went  under  arrest. 
The  order  then  came  to  the  Ninety-Second :  "  With  the  Regi- 


NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  379 

ment  on  horseback  you  will  charge  those  works,  and  drive  out 
the  Rebs."     The  question  was  asked,   "  May  we   not  charge  on 
foot,  as  we  were  accustomed   to  do?"      The  reply  was,     "  You 
will  charge  on  horseback."     Kilpatrick  wished  to  show  his  cav- 
alry.    Boys,  you  remember  how  hard  it  was  to  wheel  the  horses 
into  line  in  that  tangled  wildwood,  beneath  a  galling  fire,  the 
bullets  rattling  like  hail  against  the  trees.     Some  of  you  shouted, 
"  Let  us  charge  on  foot."     The  reply  was,  "  No;  we  are  ordered 
to  charge   on   horse."      The   command  was  given,  "  Forward." 
Like  wild  mad-caps  you   dashed  over  that  field,  and  threw  your 
horses  against  the  works;  you  brought  your  Spencers  down  and 
pumped  fire  into  that  living  mass;  stricken  with  fear,  they  fled. 
The  ground  along  the  works  was  strown  with  Rebel  dead  and 
dying.     Some  prisoners  you  took.     One  boy  of  Company  I,  in 
his  excitement,  sprung   from  his  horse  upon  the  back  of   a  big 
Johnny,  and,  grabbing  him  by  the  collar,  dragged  him  over  the 
works,  and,  leading  him  up  to  Captain  Becker,  said:  "Cap,  here's 
a  prisoner;  what  shall  I  do  with  him?"     The  Captain  said,  "Take 
him  back  to  the  rear."     The  boy  said,  "I  have  not  time,   Cap; 
you  take  him  back;  I  want  to  go  for  another!"     Captain  Becker, 
at  the  time  you  told  me  the  boy's  name ;  I  have  forgotten  it.     Is 
he  present?     This  charge  cost  us  valuable  lives,  though  the  Rebs 
lost  ten  to  our  one.     Here  Lieutenant  Dawson,  of  Company  H, 
was  mortally  wounded,  than  whom  a  better,  braver  soldier  never 
lived.     His  loss  to  Company  H,  and  to  the  Regiment,  was  irrepa- 
rable.     His    body   sleeps  by  the  Chattahoochee;  but  his  noble, 
daring  spirit  finds  rest  up  yonder  in  the  soldier's    paradise.     We 
moved  forward  again  on  the  Jonesboro  Road  till  we  reached  a 
valley,  where  we   were   ordered   to  halt.     Here  we  witnessed  a 
most  splendid  artillery  duel.      On   the  range  of  hills  east  of  us 
was  Rebel  artillery;  on  a  western  summit  our  batteries  were  in 
position.     We  were  midway  between  the  two.     It  was  a  grand 
scene  to  witness.     White  wreaths  of  smoke  curled  upward   from 
the  guns,  white  wreaths  from  the  bursting  shells;    Rebel  shot 
howled    over    us ;    our    shells    screamed  back  again.     Thunder 
answered  to  thunder,  peal  to  peal,  crash  to  crash!     Earth  fairly 
shook.     Our  boys  beat.     The  Rebel  gunners   limbered   up,  and 
rumbled  away.     Onward  we  moved,  still  toward  Jonesboro.     We 
marched  till  we  reached  Flint  River  Valley,  about  two  miles  from 
town.     As  we  looked  down   from  the  hill,   we  saw  the  river,  a 
bridge  spanning  it;  Rebel  xranks   were  guarding  the  bridge,  and 
about  to  destroy  it.      "Forward   the  Ninety-Second!"  was    the 


380  N1NETT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

order.  "Charge  the  Rebs,  save  the  bridge !"  At  our  request  we 
charged  on  foot.  On  the  run  you  went  in,  cheer  upon  cheer 
uttered  as  you  dashed  upon  the  Rebs.  They  could  not  stand  the 
blaze  of  your  Spencers ;  they  fled.  The  bridge  was  saved.  As 
you  were  returning  to  your  horses,  you  met  Generals  Howard 
and  Osterhaus.  General  Howard  said,  "  Boys,  that  was  a  splen- 
'  did  charge;  you  are  a  noble  Regiment."  Osterhaus  said,  "  Das 
ist  ein  goot  Regiment;  dey  trills  de  infantry  trill."  Each  of  you, 
after  these  compliments,  felt  as  big  as  a  full-fledged  Major 
General ;  and  you  had  a  right  to  feel  thus,  for  you  were  good, 
brave,  noble  boys.  Had  you  been  ordered  to  charge  into  the  very 
jaws  of  death,  I  believe  you  would  have  done  it.  As  soon  as 
mounted,  Kilpatrick  said,  "Captain  Estes  will  accompany  you, 
and  give  you  my  orders."  We  moved  down  the  hill,  and  as  we 
were  crossing  the  bridge  you  heard  Estes  say  to  an  infantry  Colo- 
nel who  stood  by,  "Colonel,  the  cavalry  will  beat  the  infantry. 
We  are  going  right  into  Jonesboro."  We  made  a  right  turn  as 
we  crossed  the  bridge,  and  marched  down  the  left  bank  of  the 
river.  The  shades  of  night  were  falling.  You  had  marched  and 
fought  the  blessed  day  through — no  rest;  no  dinner,  no  coflFee  or 
little  hard-tack  in  your  stomachs.  After  moving  about  a  mile 
and  a  half  down  the  river,  you  came  to  a  swale; it  was  getting 
quite  dark.  Some  of  you  said,  "  Yonder  are  the  Rebels!  I  see 
their  line;  there  are  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  them."  Estes 
replied,  "It's  a  d — d  lie;  there's  not  a  Rebel  between  us  and 
Jonesboro."  As  we  crossed  the  swale,  and  reached  the  foot  of  a 
hill,  a  rolling  volley  of  musketry  greeted  us.  Estes  said,  "The 
General  directs  that  you  dismount  your  command,  charge  the 
hill,  take  it,  and  hold  it."  He  then  moved  rapidly  to  the  rear.  In 
advance  of  the  rest  of  our  Division,  we  knew  not  how  far,  the  line 
of  the  Rebel  army  running  across  the  top  of  that  hill;  we 
ordered  to  charge  the  hill,  take  and  hold  it.  Great  God,  what  a 
task!  "  Prepare  to  fight  on  foot,"  was  the  order. 

"  Was  there  a  man  dismayed? 
Not  tho'  the  soldier  knew 
Some  one  had  blundered; 
Theirs  not  to  make  reply, 
Theirs  not  to  reason  why; 
Theirs  but  to  do  and  die. 
Into  the  Valley  of  Death 
Rode  the  Six  Hundred." 


NINETT-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  381 

"  Forward ! "  was  the  command.  How  like  demons  you  fought 
your  way  up  that  hill.  Terrible  was  the  roll  of  your  Spencers. 
The  incessant,  unbroken  fire  of  your  guns  the  Rebs,  though  ten 
to  your  one,  could  not  withstand.  Dismayed,  they  recoiled,  and 
fled  back  to  the  foot  of  the  hill.  "Lie  down!"  was  the  order. 
You  obeyed.  How  closely,  how  lovingly  you  hugged  old  mother 
earth ;  had  you  not  done  it,  there  would  probably  have  been  but 
one  Reuion  of  the  Ninety-Second,  and  that  up  yonder, — for  fire 
to  the  right  of  you,  fire  in  front  of  you,  fire  to  the  left  of  you, 
volleyed  and  flamed!  Should  you  live  till  you  are  wrinkled  and 
gray,  you  can  never  forget  the  terrible  hissing,  whistling,  and 
whizzing  of  bullets  above  you.  It  seems  as  if  ten  thousand  col- 
onies of  bees  were  let  loose  in  the  trees  about  you.  One,  two 
and  three  different  messengers  were  sent  back  with  the  word : 
"  We  hold  the  hill,  send  us  reinforcements  or  further  orders." 
The  Division  had  come  up.  The  balance  of  our  Brigade  tried  to 
form  on  our  left,  but  could  not;  had  they  succeeded,  a  general 
engagement  of  the  two  armies  would  have  ensued.  Orders 
came — "  Fall  back." 

"  Stormed  at  with  shot  and  shell, 
While  horse  and  hero  fell, 
They  that  had  fought  so  well 
Came  thro'  the  jaws  of  Death, 
Back  from  the  mouth  of  Hell, 
All  that  was  left  of  them."  • 

One-fifth  of  our  number  engaged  were  killed  or  wounded,  and 
nearly  all  while  lying  flat  upon  the  ground.  As  we  were  moving 
back,  we  met  Colonel  Murray;  he  exclaimed,  "God  bless  the 
Ninety  Second!  Such  terrific  firing  I  never  heard;  I  feared  that 
not  a  man  of  you  would  come  out  alive.  Brave,  brave  boys!" 
As  he  thus  complimented  you,  the  tears  were  streaming  down  his 
cheeks.  In  this  fight,  Lieutenant  Sammis  was  twice  wounded,  one 
wound  crippling  him  for  life.  It  was  midnight  before  we  sank  to 
rest  on  the  ground.  Thus  ended  an  eventful  day  in  the  history 
of  the  Ninety-Second.  A  day  or  two  after,  General  Howard 
issued  an  order  to  Kilpatrick,  complimenting  him  for  the  brilliant 
diversion  made  by  the  cavalry  on  his  right,  which  enabled  him  to 
get  his  men  into  line  without  firing  a  gun.  The  brilliant  diversion 
referred  to  was  made  by  you,  bovs,  and  by  you  alone.  • 

Brother  Cartwright's  little  sermons,  so  warm  from  the  heart, 
that  he  talked  to  you  down  yonder,  seldom  exceeded  twenty 


382  NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS. 

minutes.  We  always  thought  it  safe  to  follow  his  example.  I 
fear  in  my  little  talk  to-day  I  shall  digress  somewhat  from  it ;  but 
I'll  hasten. 

I'll  not  stop  to  tell  how  General  Atkins,  with  his  Brigade, 
pounced  upon  the  Rebs  at  Macon,  making  them  believe  that  city 
was  Sherman's  objective  point,  which  enabled  the  army  to  swing 
to  the  east,  getting  between  the  Rebs  and  the  sea.  In  that  charge 
you  had  the  post  of  honor — the  advance.  Brother  Cartwright 
undertook  to  pick  up  the  Rebel  wounded  your  Spencers  had  scat- 
tered along  the  road,  most  of  whom  were  shot  through  the  head, 
but  he  found  the  job  too  big.  I'll  not  tell  of  your  triumphant 
march  through  Milledgeville,  the  Capitol  of  Georgia,  our  Brass 
Brand,,  led  by  Collen  Bauden,  playing  Yankee  Doodle  in  finest 
style.  Neither  must  I  relate  how  well  you  acted  as  rear  guard  of 
the  Division,  Sunday,  November  twenty-seventh,  while  moving 
toward  Waynesboro,  Wheeler's  whole  command  following  close 
in  you  steps.  Charge  after  charge  of  Rebs  you  repulsed ;  many 
saddles  you  emptied,  horses  going  back  riderless.  The  next 
morning  General  Kilpatrick  said,  "Atkins,  the  Ninety-Second 
must  again  act  as  rear  guard  to-day;"  General  Atkins  replied, 
"The  boys  are  worn  and  weary  from  yesterday's  toil ;  they  ought 
not  to  bear  the  brunt  again  today."  Kilpatrick  said,  "They 
must."  Atkins  replied,  "They  shall  not;  if  you  think  the  other 
brigade  can  not  take  its  turn  on  duty,  I  will  again  march  in  rear 
with  my  Brigade,  but  the  Ninety-Second  shall  not  be  the  rear 
Regiment."  General  Kilpatrick,  with  a  little  profanity,  yielded, 
but  not  with  a  very  good  grace.  I  will  not  tell  of  the  fight  you 
had  .at  Buckhead  Creek,  in  which  Kilpatrick  lost  his  hat,  and 
came  near  being  captured;  the  liebs,  after  our  Division  went  into 
line  behind  barricades,  meeting  a  terrible  repulse,  losing  some  two 
hundred  men.  Wheeler,  and  his  command,  were  growing  more 
and  more  insolent  every  dav.  It  was  necessary  they  should  have 
a  good  drubbing.  Sunday  morning,  December  fourth,  you  were 
ordered  to  strip  for  fight.  The  night  previous  you  had  been  on 
picket,  so  annoyed  by  Rebel  shells  that  you  got  no  rest.  You  had 
had  no  breakfast.  You  loaded  up  with  cartridges.  General  Atkins 
was  ordered  to  open  the  fight.  The  General  directed  that  you 
should  charge  on  foot  in  the  centre,  and  the  cavalry  on  your  right 
and  left,  mounted.  Our  artillery  opened  up  in  fine  style.  On 
foot,  in  line  of  battle,  you  moved  forward  till  you  came  to  a  creek, 
which  you  waded.  As  you  halted  on  the  opposite  bank  to  re-form 
your  line,  you  saw  the  enemy.  On  the  crest  of  the  hill  beyond 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  383 

frowned  their  works;  those  barricades  swarmed  and  were  gray 
with  Rebels.  Wheeler's  whole  command  was  in  and  about  them. 
Their  battle-flags  floated  in  defiance.  You  could  see  the  gleam 
of  their  guns  pointed  at  you,  as  at  a  rest  they  were  taking  aim. 
You  knew  when  that  death  volley  came,  many  of  you  would  go 
down;  but  you  were  not  daunted.  Victory  you  were  resolved 
to  win.  "  Forward !"  was  the  command.  "  Charge  for  the  works ! 
On,  boys!  On!"  Up  that  hill  you  double-quicked.  When  near 
the  works,  a  sheet  of  flame  volleyed  at  you — down  went  some  of 
your  numbers;  the  Rebs  had  fired  high.  Cheer  upon  cheer  you 
now  sent  up,  for  you  knew  you  had  them.  Like  mad  you  sprang 
forward,  threw  yourselves  upon  the  works,  pumped  fire  from  your 
Spencers  at  the  Rebs  as  you  climbed  up.  Down  upon  the  Johnnies 
you  leaped,  capturing  almost  as  many  Rebels  as  you  had  men  in 
your  Regiment.  You  did  not  stop  here;  you  ordered  your  pris- 
oners back  to  the  cavalry,  and  forward  you  dashed,  driving  the 
Rebs  from  a  lesser  line  of  works.  In  consternation  they  fled.  In 
grand  confusion  they  were  mingled  together  in  a  large  open  field, 
each  in  the  other's  way,  struggling  to  get  to  the  rear.  An  un- 
broken sheet  of  flame  rolled  at  them  from  your  Spencers. 
"Where's  the  cavalry?  Where's  the  cavalry?"  some  of  you 
shouted.  "Oh!  what  a  glorious  chance  for  a  cavalry  charge!" 
The  cavalry  were  not  up  to  time — the  golden  moment  was  lost. 
The  Rebs  got  on  the  Waynesboro  road,  and  oh!  how  they  did 
skedaddle!  Kilpatrick  came  up,  and  in  his  fine,  piping  voice 
screamed  out,  "  Boys,  barricades  don't  stop  you,  do  they?"  You 
shouted  in  reply,  "  We  want  our  breakfast."  Said  he,  "  Ride  into 
yonder  wood,  and  make  your  coffee."  Of  our  hero  boys  that  here 
fell,  I  must  speak  of  but  one — brave,  noble  Geede  Scott,  of  Com- 
pany D,  General  Atkins's  Brigade  color-bearer.  As  you  were 
dashing  forward  in  your  charge,  sending  up  cheer  after  cheer, 
Geede  rose  in  his  stirrups  and  cheered  with  you,  waving  in  triumph 
the  Brigade  flag.  A  Rebel  shot  struck  him  ;  he  fell.  You  were 
victorious  over  the  enemy — he,  over  death.  He  was  transferred 
to  the  command  up  yonder,  to  become  a  standard-bearer  in  the 
shining  ranks  of  Heaven's  great  army. 

December  fifteenth,  1864,  from  Midway  Church  some  of  you 
went  to  Sunbury  Sound,  and  there  watered  your  horses  in  the 
Atlantic.  I  believe  you  said  your  horses  did  not  relish  its  briny 
waters;  but  that  you  very  much  relished  the  big,  fat  oysters  you 
swallowed  from  the  shell,  seasoned  with  a  little  Atlantic 
brine.  December  twenty-second,  1864,  Sherman  presented  to 


384  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

President  Lincoln  the  city  of  Savannah,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty 
heavy  guns,  much  ammunition,  and  twenty  five  thousand  bales 
of  cotton.  A  little  rest  beneath  the  giant  live  oaks,  and  you  were 
away  upon  the  Carolina  campaign. 

February  eleventh,  1865,  you  were  in  front  of  Aiken,  S.  C. 
Wheeler's  whole  command  and  Cheatham's  division  of  infantry 
were  there.  About  the  town  in  horse-shoe  shape  the  Rebs  were 
formed,  a  little  retired  and  concealed  from  view.  The  road  into 
the  town  was  open,  a  column  of  Rebs  in  the  town  being  in  line  of 
battle.  Kilpatrick  said,  "Atkins,  had  you  not  better  charge  into 
the  town?"  Atkins  replied,  "  I  think  not;  I  believe  the  Rebs  are 
massed  in  heavy  force  in  and  about  it;  but  if  you  order  it,  I  will 
charge."  The  order  was  given.  "  Forward  the  Ninety-Second," 
was  the  command.  "Charge  into  the  town  !"  Away  you  went, 
boys,  flying  into  the  town.  You  struck  the  column  of  Rebs 
there,  hurling  them  back.  While  you  were  thus  charging,  the 
Rebs  outside  of  the  town  in  massive  columns  closed  in  upon  your 
rear,  cutting  you  off,  and  surrounding  you.  Kilpatrick,  who  had 
witnessed  the  movement,  said,  "  There's  a  Regiment  gone  to 
hell !"  But  to  that  hot  place,  boys,  you  did  not  go,  and  I  hope 
you  never  will.  "  Right  about,"  was  the  order.  "Charge  for 
your  lives!  Fight  your  way  through !  Surrender,  never!"  You 
charged,  throwing  yourselves  upon  the  enemy;  they  were  ten  to 
your  one;  the  shock  was  so  heavy  it  broke  your  slender  line  into 
atoms.  Each  was  then  his  own  General,  and  fought  on  his  own 
hook.  How  nobly  you  did  it,  shooting  down  every  man  who  con- 
fronted you.  A  majority  came  through,  but  a  portion  still 
remained  in  the  coils  of  the  enemy.  You  reformed,  and,  with 
the  gth  Ohio  and  gth  Michigan,  you  charged  again,  driving  back 
the  Rebs,  and  rescuing  the  remainder  of  your  comrades.  A  his- 
tory of  your  daring  deeds  that  day  would  make  a  book;  few  were 
captured,  but  many  killed  and  wounded.  As  you  were  charging 
back,  several  Rebs  took  after  Kilpatrick,  and  chased  him  in  fine 
style.  The  General  called  out,  "  Shoot  the  d — d  Rebs,  shoot 
them !"  Several  Spencers  cracked,  the  Rebs  fell,  and  General 
Kilpatrick  and  his  spotted  horse  were  saved.  A  big  overgrown 
Reb  charged  Colonel  Van  Buskirk ;  their  steeds  came  together 
with  a  heavy  shock ;  both  riders  were  thrown  to  the  ground ; 
Colonel  Van  Buskirk  was  first  to  his  feet,  and  with  his  heavy 
navy  revolver,  which  he  had  before  emptied,  he  struck  the  rising 
Reb  upon  the  head,  prostrating  him  again  to  the  earth.  Ed. 
Webb,  of  Company  B,  shot  his  antagonist,  and  led  off  his  horse 


NINETY-SECOND    ILLINOIS.  385 

and  accoutrements.  Thus  I  might  relate  a  daring  adventure  of 
each  of  you,  had  I  time.  I  wrote  Captain  Becker,  asking  him  for 
incidents  to  relate.  He  replied,  "  Ridicule  the  officers,  but  praise 
the  boys,  for  they  deserve  it.  You  may  tell  how  I  lost  my  hat 
at  Florence,  and  how  at  Aiken  my  old  sabre  was  so  rusted  in  the 
scabbard  I  had  to  take  both  hands  to  draw  it."  I  will  add  what 
the  Captain  did  not  tell  me,  but  what  I  know.  Two  big  Rebs 
confronted  him,  contemplating  his  capture.  Captain  Becker,  in 
tones  of  thunder,  yelled  at  them,  "  Get  out  of  my  road,  you 
rascals,  or  I'll  smash  you!"  As  the  Captain  made  for  them,  they 
thought  discretion  the  better  part  of  valor,  and  fled.  It  appears 
that  Captain  Becker  thought  his  sword  was  in  better  condition  to 
"  smash"  than  to  cut. 

Many  were  your  fights  and  skirmishes  in  the  Carolinas. 

April  twelfth,  1865,  you  reached  a  branch  of  the  Neuse  River, 
as  the  Rebs  were  in  the  act  of  destroying  the  bridge.  You  drove 
them  from  it.  As  you  halted  to  repair  it,  news  came  from  Sher- 
man that  Lee  had  surrendered.  O,  how  the  sky  echoed  and  re- 
echoed again  with  your  exultant  cheers!  The  bridge  repaired, you 
crossed.  The  Rebs  charged  you;  you  repulsed  them,  and,  in 
return,  charged  them,  driving  them  up  the  road,  over  the  hill,  and 
away  to  the  railroad,  and  beyond  it.  While  at  the  railroad,  a 
train  of  cars  came  dashing  along.  You  halted  it.  Ex-Governor 
Swain  and  others  stepped  out.  General  Atkins  received  them, 
and,  for  the  first  time,  in  the  Governor  beheld  his  future  father- 
in-law.  The  Governor  was  bearing  to  Sherman  the  surrender 
of  the  city  of  Raleigh.  The  battle  fought  that  day,  my  com- 
rades, was  your  last,  and  your  trusty  Spencers  there  fired  the  last 
shots  of  the  war.  In  it  the  Regiment  lost  valuable  lives.  Of  the 
wounded  was  our  respected  President,  who  fell  in  the  thickest  of 
the  fight.  Though  maimed  and  deformed  for  life,  he  is  loved  and 
respected  by  his  comrades,  and  esteemed  and  honored  by  the 
people  among  whom  his  lot  is  cast. 

Of  our  noble  patriot  dead,  their  graves  are  scattered  along  the 
line  of  our  march,  from  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  through  to  the 
sea,  and  thence  northward  through  the  Carolinas.  Their  heroic 
spirits,  I  believe,  are  here  to-day,  hovering  over  us  at  this 
moment,  and  enjoying  the  blessedness  of  this  home  scene. 

Sergeant  Bloss,  of  Company  K,  who  fell  mortally  wounded  in 

the  charge  at  Powder  Springs,   Georgia,  after  commending  his 

wife  and  babes  to  the  care  of  Omnipotence,   said :     "  My  life  is 

a  part  of  the  price  of  freedom ;  cheerfully   I  die."     Brave  words, 

48 


386  NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS. 

and  true.  Our  fallen  heroes  died  in  freedom's  cause — the  noblest 
death  allotted  to  man. 

In  the  words  of  others: 

"  Their  names  will  thrill  the  coming  ages  as  they  are  spoken 
by  the  tongues  of  the  eloquent;  and  their  deeds  will  forever  be 
chanted  by  immortal  minstrels." — Manning. 

"Every  mountain  and  hill  shall  have  its  treasured  name; 
every  river  shall  keep  some  solemn  title;  every  vallev  and  every 
lake  shall  cherish  its  honored  register.  And  till  the  mountains 
are  worn  out,  and  the  rivers  forget  to  flow,  till  the  clouds  are 
weary  of  replenishing  springs,  and  the  springs  forget  to  gush, 
and  the  rills  to  sing,  shall  their  names  be  kept  fresh  with  reverent 
honors,  which  are  inscribed  upon  the  book  ot  National  Remem- 
brance."— Beechcr. 

Mr.  President,  dear  comrades,  and  brothers :  Let  us  so  live 
that  when  tattoo  with  us  shall  sound,  and  the  lights  of  our  lives 
shall  be  blown  out,  we  may  lie  down  to  rest,  having  well  fought 
life's  battle,  and  nobly  done  our  duty  in  life's  campaign,  in  full 
accord  with  that  Book  of  Regulations  that  was  written  by  God's 
own  hand;  that  when  resurrection  morn  shall  come,  and  you 
awake  to  the  peals  of  Gabriel's  trump,  as  he  blows  reveille,  you, 
with  the  boys  down  yonder,  will  rise  triumphant  to  form  a  part  of 
the  great  Reunion  of  the  army  of  God,  in  Heaven's  blessed 
encampment. 

Major  Woodcock's  address  was  received  with  many  demon- 
strations of  applause,  and  was  heartily  cheered  at  its  close.  Music 
by  the  Band  followed,  when  Major  Hawk  announced  a  business 
meeting  of  the  members  of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois,  in  the 
court-room,  and  with  a  benediction  by  the  Chaplain  the  out-door 
audience  was  dismissed;  not,  however,  without  an  urgent  invita- 
tion to  report  promptly  on  the  grounds  at  six  o'clock  for  supper. 

The  business  meeting  was  opened  by  prayer,  and  the  Presi- 
dent stated  the  object  to  be  to  select  a  place  for  the  next  Reunion, 
and  to  elect  officers  for  the  coming  three  years.  General  Sheets 
tendered  an  invitation  on  behalf  ot  Oregon,  Ogle  County,  to  the 
Association,  to  hold  its  next  Reunion  there  on  September  fourth, 
1876.  Mr.  King  tendered  a  like,  invitation  on  behalf  of  Rochelle. 
On  motion,  the  invitation  from  Oregon  was  accepted,  and  Ore- 
gon, Ogle  County,  fixed  as  the  place  of  the  next  Reunion  of  the 
Ninety-Second  Illinois  Volunteers,  and  September  fourth,  1876, 
fixed  as  the  time.  General  B.  F.  Sheets,  late  Lieutenant  Colonel 


NINETY-SECOND   ILLINOIS.  38? 

of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois,  was  unanimously  chosen  President 
of  the  Association. 

Major  Hawk  made  a  touching  and  feeling  address  to  his  com- 
rades, on  retiring  from  the  Presidential  chair.  A  vote  of  thanks 
was  unanimously  tendered  Major  Hawk.  General  Sheets,  on 
assuming  the  chair,  returned  thanks  for  the  honor,  and  promised 
to  serve  as  faithfully  as  he  knew  how.  John  M.  King,  Esq.,  late 
Corporal  of  Company  B,  Ninety-Second  Illinois,  was  unani- 
mously elected  Vice-President.  Richard  H.  Lee,  Esq.,  late 
private  of  Company  B,  was  unanimously  elected  Secretary.  E. 
A.  Irvine,  Esq.,  late  Sergeant  of  Company  B,  was  unanimously 
elected  Corresponding  Secretary. 

A  Committee  was  appointed  to  prepare  and  publish  a  History 
of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Volunteers. 

Thanks  were  returned  to  Major  Woodcock  for  his  able 
address,  and  a  copy  requested  for  publication.  Major  Hawk 
was  unanimously  chosen  as  the  orator  for  September  fourth, 
1876.  The  Major  was  taken  by  surprise,  and  vainly  tried  to 
decline,  but  they  would  not  let  him  off.  He  intimated  that  they 
would  get  the  worst  of  it  in  the  end .  One  of  the  boys  said, 
"  Cram  in  a  big  load,  Major,  and  we  will  take  the  chances  on  your 
firing  off  your  mouth." 

The  following  letters  and  telegrams  were  then  read : 

INDIANAPOLIS,  IND.,  July  2,  1873. 

DEAR  GENERAL:  Your  note  of  invitation  to  the  third  trien- 
nial Reunion  of  the  Ninety-Second  Illinois  Regiment  has  just 
reached  me.  I  regret  to  say  I  cannot  go.  I  well  remember  the  first 
time  I  saw  the  Ninety-Second,  with  you  at  their  head,  just  begin- 
ning their  glorious  career,  their  uniforms  new,  their  guns  bright, 
their  flags  unsullied  by  battle  smoke  or  shot,  their  men  bright- 
eyed,  buoyant.  It  seems  but  yesterday,  so  powerful  and  brave; 
gone  now,  scattered,  dead.  Who  can  answer  the  muster  roll? 
Where  are  the  shot-torn  and  ragged  flags?  Where  the  well 
burnished  instruments  of  death?  All  have  vanished  like  a  pa- 
geant, and  the  mighty  war  itself,  rocking  thirty  millions  of 
people  on  its  stormy  waves,  has  vanished  too. 

But  it  was  not  all  a  dream;  personally,  life-enduring  friend- 
ships were  formed;  politically,  the  greatest  results  were  wrought 
out;  and  all  time  shall  bear  witness  to  the  patriotism  and  devotion 
of  the  men  who  risked  their  lives  to  do  it. 


388  NlNETT-S&COtfD  ILLINOIS. 

I  wish  you  all  a  most  happy  Reunion,  and  long  life  to  the 
brave  men  of  the  Ninety-Second. 

Yours  truly,  JOHN  COBURN. 

To  General  S.  D.  Atkins. 

IOWA  FALLS,  IOWA,  Sept.  i,  1873. 
CAPTAIN  E.  T.  E.  BECKER  : 

My  Dear  Captain  and  Comrade:  I  had  fondly  anticipated 
meeting  you  and  the  old  comrades  of  the  Ninety-Second  at  this 
Reunion,  but  business  has  ordered  otherwise.  But  though  absent 
in  person,  will  be  with  you  in  mind.  Words  are  inadequate  to 
express  the  true  admiration  and  gratitude  I  have  for  the  comrades 
of  the  old  Ninety-Second,  with  whom  I  have  been  in  many  well 
fought  battles,  and,  through  you,  extend  the  hand  of  friendship 
and  fellowship,  and  the  many  regrets  that  I  am  not  able  to  be 
with  you  at  this,  your  third  triennial  Reunion. 

Yours  truly,  M.  VAN  BUSKIRK. 

FREEPORT,  ILL.,  Sept.  4,  1873. 
MAJOR  R.  M.  A.  HAWK,  Mt.  Carroll: 

Please  present  regrets  and  warmest  greetings  to  my  old  com- 
rades. I  am  celebrating  a  Reunion  at  home.  It  is  a  big  boy ! 

LAWYER. 

The  business  meeting  then  adjourned,  and  the  Ninety-Second 
boys  again  mingled  with  their  friends  in  the  Court  House  Square. 
The  soldiers  had  come,  bringing  with  them  their  wives  and 
babies,  their  fathers  and  mothers,  their  cousins  and  sweethearts, 
and  friends,  and  such  happy  groups  as  were  there  are  seldom 
seen.  Some  had  come  more  than  a  thousand  miles  to  attend  the 
Reunion.  Stories  of  the  camp  and  battle  went  around  again, 
and  the  merry  mood  of  all  told  plainly  that  they  knew  where  the 
laugh  came  in.  And  tears  started  too,  sometimes,  when  the 
names  of  beloved  comrades,  who  had  fallen,  were  mentioned.  It 
was  a  Reunion  where  patriotism  was  both  sanctified  and  born — 
in  which  the  past  was  honored,  and  the  future  made  more  secure. 
Promptly  at  six  o'clock,  supper  was  announced.  They  assembled 
in  an  orderly  manner  around  the  long  tables,  and  reverently 
bowed  their  heads  while  the  good  old  Chaplain  returned  thanks, 
and  asked  God's  blessing.  And  such  .a  supper!  Smoking  hot 
coffee  for  the  soldiers,  and  tea  for  the  ladies!  Cold  chicken, 
turkey,  ham,  beef,  mutton,  buttered  rolls,  cake  in  endless  variety, 


NINETY-SECOND  ILLINOIS.  389 

grapes,  apples,  and  ice  cream!  And  the  free  gift,  too,  of  the 
generous  people  of  Mt.  Carroll.  The  ladies  of  that  goodly  city 
were  again  the  waiting  maids.  Again  there  was  abundance,  and 
no  hurry  or  confusion. 

With  the  gathering  shades  of  night  the  grove  was  lighted  up 
with  Chinese  lanterns,  and  when  the  Band  struck  up,  the  audience 
assembled  around  the  speaker's  stand.  The  President  called  it 
to  order,  and  the  Chaplain  offered  prayer,  when  the  President  read 
the  first  toast — "The  Fifteenth  Illinois  Infantry,"  which  was  re- 
sponded to  by  Major  Adam  Nase,  the  present  Collector  of 
Internal  Revenue  for  this  District.  Major  Nase  was  wounded  in 
battle,  and  after  having  his  leg  amputated  by  Rebel  surgeons, 
came  back  home  by  way  of  Libby  Prison.  His  speech  was  full 
of  patriotism  and  eloquence,  and  we  regret  that  we  cannot  give 
it  in  full.  We  have  not  room  for  any  of  the  patriotic  and  eloquent 
addresses  made  in  the  evening.  We  can  only  give  in  order  the 
toasts,  and  the  names  of  those  who  responded :  "  The  34th  Illi- 
nois;" response  by  Dr.  John  S.  Hostetter;  an  able  address.  The 
boys  loudly  called  for  General  Atkins,  when  the  General  appeared 
and  made  a  short  speech.  General  Sheets  was  also  called  out, 
and  made  a  humorous  address.  "The  45th  Illinois;"  response  by 
Captain  J.  M.  Adair,  in  an  excellent  speech.  "  The  52d  Illinois;" 
response  by  Captain  S.  S.  Dunn.  "  The  96th  Illinois;"  response 
by  Moses  Furlong.  "The  igth  Illinois;"  response  by  Captain 
W.  H.  Wildey.  "  The  8th  Illinois  Cavalry ;"  response  by  John  H. 
Bowman.  "  The  7th  Illinois  Cavalry;"  response  by  T.  G.  Smith. 
"  The  55th  Illinois;"  response  by  D.  B.  Smith.  "  The  i4th  Iowa;" 
response  by  Rev.  Mr.  Kinen.  "The  West  Virginia  Cavalry ;" 
response  by  Rev.  W.  H.  Tibbals.  "  The  3d  Wisconsin ;"  response 
by  Charles  Vandergrift.  "  The  146111  New  York ;"  response  by 
D.  W.  Hughes.  "  The  2Oth  Wisconsin;"  response  by  Captain  H. 
Vandergrift.  The  toasts  were  interspersed  with  fine  music  by  the 
Black  Oak  Band.  During  the  evening  Captain  Becker  (old  dad) 
was  twice  called  out,  once  to  sing  "  The  Trundle  Bed  Song,"  and 
once  to  sing  "  The  Soldiers'  Song."  The  good  old  Chaplain  was 
called  out,  and  responded  feelingly.  Thanks  were  returned  to  the 
people  of  Mt.  Carroll,  with  three  cheers  and  a  tiger,  and  three 
cheers  and  a  tiger  were  given  by  the  Ninety-Second  boys  for 
their  comrades  of  other  regiments.  The  proceedings  proper 
closed  with  prayer  by  the  Chaplain,  and  a  benediction.  But  while 
waiting  for  the  'busses  to  convey  them  to  the  cars,  the  boys  called 
for  Becker  to  lead  in  the  song,  "  We'll  rally  around  the  flag, 


390  N1NETT-SBCOND  ILLINOIS. 

boys,"  and  "  John  Brown's  body  lies  mouldering  in  the  grave," 
while  old  and  young  joined  in  the  chorus,  and  made  the  rock- 
bound  hills  of  Mt.  Carroll  echo  with  their  songs.  So  ended  one 
of  the  happiest  Soldiers'  Reunions  ever  held  in  Northern 
Illinois. 


HECKMAN 

BINDERY  INC. 


MAY  95 

-Pl.a.J'  N.MANCHESTER. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


